


Quake

by Aspidities



Series: Fire In My Bones [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avatar State, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous!Korra, Lesbian Sex, Mystical Sex, Smut, Strap-Ons, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, strap-on sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-16 15:15:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11831400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aspidities/pseuds/Aspidities
Summary: Korra still needs to work out her feelings for Asami, but Kuvira has other plans...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to all who inspired me to keep this work going! Few notes here:
> 
> -This is mixed POV with Korra/Asami/Kuvira, in that repeating order, but also designated by chapters. First up is Korra.
> 
> -Asami remains the hottest character and POV to write. I blame fan art for this. 
> 
> -I wanted to play with Kuvira as an absolute Villian in this work, although a still someone nuanced one. There are many incredible stories featuring Kuvira as a much more moral character than I've portrayed her here, but I needed a good stand in to force Korra into revealing her feelings, so sorry Kuvira, but you get to be rape-y. 
> 
> -Comments super appreciated! Hope you enjoy reading :D

The metal benders on either side of the gangplank doors planted their feet and each entered pulling stance as the huge aluminum doors folded to one side accordion-style, like a paper fan instead of two tons of metal, allowing the sunlight of Zaofu to enter the airship. The metal benders extended the gangplank, a long series of aluminum that hit the earth with a satisfying thud, and Tenzin and Lin Beifong strode forward into the light, each subtly vying to be the first to greet Kuvira, the Great Uniter, who waited on the opposite side of the airship field with her arms crossed behind her back, feet planted.

To Korra, she looked like a good soldier awaiting orders. _That’s good, she’s about to get a lot of them._

She, meanwhile, had come on the back of Oogie, Tenzin’s bison, and arrived earlier in the day than the airship, with Jinora, Ikki and Meelo, all of whom had immediately disappeared into the metal city for some fun. She’d already exchanged small talk with Kuvira and thanked her again for helping out her dad during the Red Lotus incident, but talking to Kuvira she found like talking to a very pleasant steel mask. The older woman wouldn’t let her see any of the experimental new mech tanks, claiming these had been ‘relocated’, and she’d also handily skirted around any discussion of the actual transition of power. Something about that just didn’t smell right, but Korra couldn’t deny that the commander did seem to be well-loved in Zaofu, at least. Several times that day they’d been interrupted by citizens who spoke to Kuvira as an equal, and she approached their petty squabbles and minor problems with dignity and respect, instead of directing them to someone lower than herself. That alone would normally endear her to the Avatar, let alone the fact that the metal bender had saved her father, but there was a subtle edge to the Great Uniter’s tone when she spoke of Prince Wu and the power transition that was worrisome to Korra, who had spent the last six years learning to identify red flags in people in power. She was also concerned that she hadn’t yet had the chance to talk with the Beifongs, although she knew she would be staying with them later, because Kuvira claimed they were all hard at work on individual projects. Something about that bothered her.

Still, she wasn’t here to watch the commander, no matter what her actual mission may be.

Coming down the gangplank now on Bolin’s arm was a dark-haired goddess in a red-black jacket with a gearshift on each shoulder pad, the collar turned up around her pale face, legs clad in seductive red with black Satobike boots snaking up her calves. _There she is. Asami…._

Asami was laughing at something Bolin had said, throwing her head back and shaking out her loose mane of penumbra-black hair. She was an absolute vision in the late afternoon light, even dressed casually for travel, and Korra saw a wave of male attention following after her, from the guards on the ship, to the assembled citizens at deck at the landing station, to the soldiers stationed just behind Kuvira. Eyes followed, dozens at once, Korra helplessly among them. Bolin was totally oblivious: his candor with the heartbreaking beauty was too outright to be anything but platonic, pure friendship, but it still clenched at Korra with jealousy to see him escorting Asami like that, his hand clasped over hers gallantly on his arm.

“Opal!” Bolin had seen his girlfriend and was practically dragging Asami over to where the Beifongs had gathered. Korra noticed with some interest that they were all standing near Su, instead of with Kuvira, and Wing and Wei had irritated expressions on their twin faces as they glared at the Great Uniter, whose welcoming smile never faded as she raised a hand to greet Lin and Tenzin with her characteristic firm handshake. Opal had her arms folded and didn’t look too happy to see Bolin, strangely enough. She kept his hug at arm’s length, but she pulled Asami into a warm clasp, giving her bewildered boyfriend an eye over her shoulder as she greeted the heiress. As Asami was drawn from Opal into Suyin’s welcoming hug, she lifted her head slightly and her emerald eyes lanced right into Korra’s.

_No use pretending I’m not here now._

The Avatar stood, unfolding her legs from her cramped position on top of the airship building. She flicked her glider, extending the wings, and dropped from the roof. She spotted Jinora making her way through the crowd, a hand on on a strenuously-objecting Meelo, pushing him forward while Ikki followed contritely behind. She landed alongside the young airbender, ruffling Meelo’s thick black hair as she passed. “Did you guys have a good time in the city?” She asked, accepting Ikki’s tight hug around her legs.

Jinora nodded sagely. “Lots of interesting things to discuss.” She looked at Kuvira pointedly as the commander approached with Tenzin. “But not right now.” Korra frowned: apparently Jinora had the same feelings she did.

“So these are the young airbenders I’ve heard so much about.” Kuvira said, her face a mask of diplomatic charm, as she, Tenzin and Lin greeted the children. Tenzin puffed with pride, and he introduced his brood, a hand on Jinora and Ikki’s shoulders while Lin held Meelo at arm’s length, preventing him from hugging her; her grumpy face showing the slightest hint of actual warmth despite her hand keeping the smooching, drooling face from hers with some effort. Ikki turned from making a very pretty curtesy to Kuvira, and her eyes lit up as she caught sight of Asami and Bolin, now crossing from the Beifongs. Korra noted, yet again, that none of the Beifongs had left Su’s side, and didn’t seem keen to interact with Kuvira. Lin had noticed too: she and Korra exchanged quick glances.

“ _Asami_!” Ikki ran forward, burying her head into Asami’s midriff as the older girl let out a small ‘oof’. Ikki, now almost twelve, had discovered an interest in makeup that she indulged frequently, marking her face up in lurid colors that more than resembled a hog monkey’s ass, until, at Pema’s frustrated request, the Sato girl had gently taught her the proper methods. Ikki was always clipping out fashion highlights that featured the heiress, claiming these were ‘outfit inspiration’, which meant that Korra couldn’t enter the pre-teen’s room without being bombarded in newspaper clippings of Asami in various stylish outfits, a fact which had been doubly hard to bear lately. The Avatar’s body longed to rush up and greet the heiress in the same way, but she held back, staring at her with a rush of silent emotion over Ikki’s head. Asami snubbed her; subtly shifting her face down to Ikki’s to avoid Korra’s puppy-dog stare.

“You look perfect today!” She gushed, smiling at the pre-teen, and Ikki bubbled with delight. Korra couldn’t blame her. _If she smiled at me like that right now, I’d-_

Korra’s thought train ran abruptly off track: the new arrivals had caught Kuvira’s attention as well. The commander approached, and greeted Bolin with a sharp head nod as he saluted smartly. “Bolin, welcome back. I’m delighted to see your trip was a success.” She stepped forward, charming smile in place, hand outstretched. “Why, if this isn’t a vision for war-weary eyes. Miss Sato, we are pleased to welcome you to Zaofu. Your technology has been getting quite the workout.”

That _clearly_ wasn’t the only thing Kuvira wanted to work out. A slow, suggestive smile had spread across her face as she looked Asami up and down, while the heiress blushed slightly and drew a hair behind her ear. Mere yards away, Korra stiffened in jealous agony as Asami held her hand out and Kuvira gallantly laid a kiss to her knuckles, dropping into a smooth half-bow. Asami’s brow arched and her voice had a note to it that stung Korra with the realization that Kuvira had succeeded in impressing her: “Thank you, commander. I’m pleased we could be of help.”

“Please, allow me to escort you into the city.” Kuvira straightened and offered an arm, which Asami, casting a quick glance back at Bolin (who shrugged), accepted. Kuvira immediately laid a hand on the small of the Sato girl’s back, and Korra had to bite the inside of her cheek ragged at the sight, failing to stop her brows to stop knitting together angrily. _You smooth cocky asshole…If a man tried that, Sami would’ve snapped his wrist, damn it._

If Asami was thrown by the touch, however, she didn’t show it. She allowed Kuvira to propel her forward, leading the group as they progressed into the metal blossom of Zaofu. The central street leading to the gala celebration was clogged with smiling citizens, none of whom seemed to have anything better to do than cheer and wave as the Great Uniter passed. Tenzin flitted alongside Kuvira, no doubt endlessly peppering her with questions about the recent conflicts in the Earth Kingdom, but the commander seemed above being flustered. She responded evenly, and turned her attention fully to Asami on her arm, pointing out the metal lanterns that heralded either side of the street, running on Sato-powered electricity. She said something to Asami which made the non-bender laugh, covering her mouth demurely, and a slow, smugly satisfied smile spread over Kuvira’s iron features while a blanched look of misery slid over Korra’s.

“Avatar, are you all right?” Lin questioned harshly. “You’re looking at Kuvira like she just ran away with your fish.” Her charcoal-grey eyes followed Korra’s, to where Kuvira’s hand rested firmly just above Asami’s irresistible backside, and she shot Korra a strange look. _Oh great, Beifong knows. Why not tell the whole city? Have another press conference! “Avatar Korra, is it true you spend more of your time thinking about being inside of Asami Sato than you do the fate of the world?”_

“Oh Korra’s fine.” Bolin supplied, giving Korra a knowing raise of his thick eyebrows. “She’s just glad Asami and Kuvira are getting along so well- _unnnfff_!”

Korra had slammed an elbow into his side, just below the ribs. _I will fucking murder you Bo, I swear to all the Spirits. You are a dead man._ To Lin, Korra tried to arrange her features innocently. “Heh, heh. Uh, yep. Just…um…glad everyone’s so friendly.”

“Everyone except Opal,” Bolin complained, rubbing his side and wincing. “I wonder why she’s so mad at me. Everything was fine when I left for Republic City.”

“You must’ve done something stupid.” Lin snorted, her eyes still on Korra. “So what’s the word on the ground, Avatar? You had at least three hours before we got here, I assume you managed to get some intel, at least.”

Korra grimaced. “Not much. Kuvira’s being really tight-lipped about the mecha tanks not being here and it rubs me the wrong way. Everyone seems to love her, though, and the city looks to be prospering; I’m just not convinced she really wants to leave power. Jinora seemed to think something was up, too….I need to check in with her.”

Lin nodded. “Smart airbender kid. I’ve been concerned about this ‘Great Uniter’ business for a while now, and I’m sure something’s not right here, but it could be as minor as a miscommunication over the transfer of power to Wu. Remains to be seen. For now, you’d do best to keep your eyes and ears alert.” Lin hesitated for a moment and then added with a sly smirk aimed at the Avatar. “Especially on her dealings with _Miss Sato._ ”

 _Oh fantastic_.

“Guys, guys,” Bolin soothed, his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “Kuvira isn’t up to anything, I promise. All we’ve been doing is handing out food and shelter to the people who need it. The Great Uniter is just making sure that everyone stays safe.” His eyes sparkled with conviction, but there was a rehearsed quality to the lines that made Korra think this was what he had been told, rather than what he believed.

“We’ll see.” Lin jerked her chin quickly at Bolin and Korra by way of a conversation ender, and slipped back to chat with her sister, who headed the group of Beifongs taking up the rear in a sullen procession. Korra’s eyes followed them: Su did not look happy, that was for sure. _What’s going on here?_

“So.” Bolin’s eyebrows waggled suggestively. “You and Asami, huuuuuh.”

She glared at him. “You just had to figure that out. _Fine_ , yes. We’ve had sex a couple times, but I fucked up and told her I wanted to be friends and now she isn’t talking to me anymore.”

“See, Beifong thinks _I’m_ the one that did something stupid, but it’s you. _Youuuu_.” Bolin pointed his finger at her accusingly. “Why the hell would you tell her you wanted to be friends? You don’t want to be friends with Asami, Korra.”

Bewildered, she put her hands up in defense. “No, Bo, I really do! I mean, I know she can sometimes be prissy but I-“

“No, you doofus. I mean _you don’t want to be ‘friends’ with Asami.”_

_Those eyebrows are going to burst through his head if he keeps that up._

“Oh.” Korra rubbed her head. “I mean…um…”

“Don’t act all ignorant. Even before you left and then _only wrote to her for the whole time you were gone_ , I knew something was up with you. You really like her. I would even say you lo-“

The Avatar’s hand slapped over his mouth. “You shut up,” she hissed fiercely. “If you say that, then it becomes real and I have to deal with the consequences of it, and we both know dating the Avatar isn’t safe or easy. I don’t….I won’t see Asami hurt.”

“Why was it okay for Mako to be hurt and not Asami?” Bolin had an absolutely infuriatingly smug look on his face.

_Because I didn’t really love him. It was just infatuation. I really do love her more than anything Spirits help me..._

“Because he’s a bender! I mean, he can take care of himself.” She faltered, realizing immediately a massive flaw in her argument.

Bolin had already picked up on it. “Asami can take care of herself, too. With that glove of hers she’s more useful than a whole bunch of benders. Plus, she does like, freaky cool acrobatic ninjutsu.” Korra was forced to nod, reluctantly, and Bolin continued, warming to his point.

“Are you seriously more concerned for her because she’s a non-bender or are you just trying to hide from some real scary feelings here? Because lemme tell you something,” he gripped her shoulders and shook her. “There is no way to hide from big scary feelings. Even if you’re the Avatar.”

“I know, okay?” She shook him off. “I…want to tell her but I don’t know how.” She groaned in frustration.

“Here’s a new thing I’ve heard of: it’s called _talking to her.”_

“It’s not that simple! I’ve tried: Bo, she doesn’t want me anywhere near long enough to hear it.”

It was true. Ever since she had seen the Sato lily on the breakfast tray, she had known what a colossal, _heroically stupid_ mistake she had made. Dressing in the bathroom that morning, she’d been practically frantic to pull her clothes on, but her mind was a mess, scattered with the perfume of Asami still on her skin and her screaming impulse that she could not, _would not_ give in to these feelings, the desire to roll back naked on the bed and wait for her raven-haired lover to return so she could pull her back down and nestle with her like lovers do. The second she’d seen Asami, covered in marks and bruises like a rag doll, had her wracked with the need to take it all back.

Somehow in the daylight, guilt had taken her by the throat and driven every word out of her mouth. She knew she’d babbled, hoping to convince herself of the need to stay friends, the need to keep things exactly as they were. The picture of Asami sitting on the bed, looking up at her with an absolutely heartbroken expression while marks of love covered her beautiful skin like brands…it wouldn’t leave her, and it was utter torment. She replayed the scene over and over again, seeing that lily on the breakfast tray, the slow realization of what that meant. Those broken eyes sought her out at night and she couldn’t sleep, smelling the smoky-sweet smell of a Sato lily.

She’d sought out Asami in any way she could, following her on errands, trying to get close enough to get her attention, but the CEO was too busily distracted when she was out and about, her mouth pursed with the weight of her thoughts. Her eyes downcast, she slipped into her Satomobile and disappeared before Korra could follow. There had been a missed meeting that the heiress was supposed to attend, and it wasn’t like Asami to miss a meeting. She’d gone to the mansion then, and swore she’d seen the shadow of her in the window, but no one would let her in.

_And then, at the press conference…._

Just as her guilty thoughts were catching up, Bolin was echoing them. “Or did she give you a chance and you didn’t take it?”

_Oh I took it. I took her up against a brick wall. But then I had my chance to say ‘I want to be with you, I don’t want to be your friend’ and I couldn’t…._

Korra hung her head. “I’m an idiot.” 

“Yeah, well, you’re not the only one. I have to figure out what I did to Opal before I try to talk to her, at least you _know_ what you did to Asami.” Korra shot him a look and he blushed. “Oh man. I _did not_ mean it that way. Anyway, she won’t be too mad at you. Opal holds a grudge, though.”

“Can you think of anything that might’ve happened? She and the other Beifongs all seem really grumpy about something to do with Kuvira.” She shot a glance back at the metal-bending family.

“I don’t know, but don’t mistrust Kuvira just because she’s flirting with Asami. She’s been really good to me, Korra, and you know the Earth Kingdom needed help. She was there.”

“I know, Bolin.” She laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure its just a miscommunication. But it does really suck that she’s flirting with Asami right now.” Korra glowered, and cast a furtive glance up ahead. At the front of the group, Asami let out another tinkling laugh and Kuvira moved closer, smiling, that hand still pressed infuriatingly close to the shapely curve of the CEO’s ass. The Avatar stared longingly after them, cursing words left unsaid.

_I’ll never forgive myself if I’ve ruined my chance with you, but I’ll always remember the way you looked beneath me…_

Shaking her head of painful thoughts, Korra followed Bolin in to the ornately-decorated gala building. Tenzin had to restrain Meelo; who had a wild look in his eye, surrounded by so many breakable objects. The groups were breaking up, being led off to separate rooms to change into formal attire for the gala celebration, which would take place in a few scant hours, with plenty of photo ops for the hungry press. Korra was gratified to see Kuvira had released Asami and was stiffly directing a nearby soldier to assist her to her rooms, but Asami gaily waved him off, shouldering her own bag with ease. Korra’s heart thudded with warmth for her. _She’s no damsel, Kuvira, try again._

Of course, the heiress was in the same wing of rooms as the Avatar’s group, just a few doors down, but it may have been a mile away for all that mattered. She was in close conference with Jinora for at least two hours, discussing all that the small airbender had seen. Like her, Jinora had noticed the lack of the mecha tanks. She’d used her glider to scan the surrounding area, and found no sign either, but when she widened her search, she’d discovered the disconcerting sight of row upon row of mecha tanks waiting dormant in a valley, guarded by soldiers wearing metal shoulder badges. Kuvira’s soldiers.

Korra paced angrily as Lin and Tenzin had a heated debate about what this may or may not mean. She was ready to go question Kuvira right off the bat, but steeled herself to wait. She gave Tenzin and Lin the order to stand down as well, each with their separate points, but told Jinora privately to keep up her surveillance. She knew she didn’t trust Kuvira one bit, but she was also sure her jealousy was clouding her vision to some degree. She needed more objective information before she acted brashly. She’d done that too many times before.

A metal gong sounded somewhere and Korra realized belatedly that it was almost time for the gala. She hurriedly excused herself to her room and washed quickly, donning her favorite Water Tribe ceremonial garb: it soothed her to dress in her heritage when she was faced with the public. As she examined herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time she’d had to wear this outfit, in her chair. Asami’s gentle fingers working her hair into a ceremonial knot and pinning it behind the fascinator. Her heart broke at the thought that not only had she lost Asami as a lover, she had lost her as a friend, all because she hadn’t been able to put truth to her words.

 _You could still lose her more if you confess it all_ , her traitorous inner self reminded her. _She could move away, stop coming to Team Avatar meetings. And then what’ll you do? Start again…again?_

Shaking these thoughts away, she stepped out into the hallway, lost in her own mind. She almost didn’t see Asami until the door clicked and she looked up to catch the jade eyes of a dragon looking back at her.

Her breath caught a bit as she took it all in: Asami was in a Fire-Nation summer evening gown, midriff and shoulder-baring, exposing the tops of her breasts. She was both figuratively and literally bejeweled, with accents of gold in her loose, flowing hair that tumbled around her shoulders, and a golden choker around her neck, culminating in a jade pendant that matched her eyes. Her eyes, that now opened deeply below smoky green-gold lids.

She was, simply put: stunning, if not outright paralyzing.

“Korra…” For a moment the Avatar could almost read an abject, open desire on the taller girl’s face, and then it vanished under the polite, demure mask that represented the vast distance between them that she had come to hate. “You’re looking….snazzy, this evening.”

“You’re looking….gorgeous.” Korra took a breath, but kept her eyes locked on Asami’s. _Time to be bold, Avatar._ “Absolutely fucking _gorgeous_. Like always.”

Asami’s eyes softened, just a touch, but her hands remained white-knuckled on her little gold clutch purse in front of her, and so Korra continued, taking a calculated step closer. “You look like you did the day we met. And you’re still taking my breath away.”

 _Oh Spirits thank you so much for letting me find the right words for once._ The taller girl’s shoulders leaned towards hers, imperceptibly, and her eyes were wide with surprise. Asami’s heart-shaped lips parted as if she needed to say something and Korra took a second step closer…

“I must say, I agree with the Avatar,” Kuvira’s smoothly confident voice cut through the atmosphere like a knife. “You are looking quite breathtaking tonight, Miss Sato.”

 _No, no, nononono for fuck’s sake GO AWAY._ Korra’s hands clenched at her sides but Kuvira did not obey her internally screaming thoughts. In fact, she stepped closer, looking resplendent herself in a severe forest-green gown that reflected her personality, but with some striking silver accents that left some room for the imagination.

“Commander, I’ve told you before, you can call me Asami.” The heiress turned with a friendly smile to Kuvira, missing the look of warning that Korra was trying to give her. Kuvira took her hand again, and Korra’s teeth clenched as she laid another all-too-gallant kiss on the smooth white skin of her knuckles.

“Then you must call me Kuvira in return.” The Great Uniter purred, giving the Avatar a low glance over Asami’s shoulder. For a moment, the pale beauty was caught in between the two women sizing each other up, as if in some savage tableau in the forest instead of in the highest social event of Zaofu’s season. Kuvira’s steel eyes hardened impossibly further and Korra took a step forward, subtly challenging, her own eyes blue diamonds that sparkled intensely.

Asami looked from Kuvira back to Korra, and realization dawned on her. She blushed, and shifted backwards, hands nervously drawing her clutch back in front of her body. Korra, recognizing that this posturing display was making the other girl uncomfortable, withdrew her stance, slackening in deference, but Kuvira made no such move. If anything, she leaned closer.

“I-I’d better see how the investors are getting on without me.” Asami chirped anxiously, and whirled down the hallway in a blur of red, black and gold. _Fantastic. There goes my chance to talk._

“Well, Avatar,” Kuvira drawled mockingly, examining her nails. “I’d say your skills with women were as legendary as your bending skills, but it’s clearly a discipline you have yet to master.”

“Whoa, first of all, you totally interrupted and-“ The Avatar stopped herself mid-sentence. _Shit. You’re revealing way too much._ “I’m not…interested in Asami that way.”

The metal-bender arched a pointed brow. “Oh really? So she’s not with you?”

Korra flushed. “No, I mean…not..well, not yet. Not really.” _This is just getting worse._

“I thought you weren’t interested in her.” The sneer on Kuvira’s face was taunting her with her inability to put it into words. “I suppose it’s just a matter of timing, right?”

“What is your _deal_?!” Korra rose defensively, the Avatar within her not about to back down from this. “You think you know Asami because you spent all of fifteen minutes with her? She’s not that easy.”

“Oh, I think she is.” Kuvira chuckled nastily. “I think she’s just begging for a strong bender like myself to to fill the hole you left in her heart, and, now that I mention it, I’m sure there’s other holes she’ll be begging me to _fill_. The only question left is will it be her pretty little mouth first or will I skip right to that ass?” She drawled, making a lewd gesture at her crotch, along with the direct challenge.

Other people may have seen red in that moment. Not Korra. She saw white. The Avatar State took hold of her body as she surged forward, pinning Kuvira to the wall by her throat in one fluid, dangerous motion as she held a ball of fire in the other, ready to strike. “Don’t you _DARE_ ,” she roared, voices coming from her body that were not her own as a thousand more inside screamed to burn this woman alive for her insolence.

Kuvira gasped around the chokehold slamming her to the wall, but she was still smiling, her lips curled. “So…possessive,” she croaked, hands reaching behind her, “I wonder what your precious little _fucktoy_ thinks of that…”

Korra opened her mouth to retort but a metal band slapped over it and a sudden pull wrenched her away from Kuvira. The commander was snaking a metal whip back from a hidden arm-hold in her silver jewelry, and she slashed it down again at Korra’s face, forcing her to roll or lose an eye. Korra ripped the metal from her mouth and snarled, driving forward with fire spilling from her hands-

“ _Korra_!” Tenzin’s horrifed yell cut short her fury and the glow faded from her eyes. “ _What do you think you’re doing?_ ” He gasped at her from his position in the hallway, absolutely thunderstruck.

Kuvira’s metal whip retracted with a ‘shnk’ noise and she readjusted her jewelry, smiling once again with that pleasant steel mask. “Just a little sparring, Master Tenzin. Thought I’d try my luck against the Avatar one on one.”

“The training yard really would be the proper place for that,” Tenzin sputtered, “not the hallways.”

“Quite right Master Airbender,” Kuvira agreed, faux-contrite. “I think we’ll just have to continue our battle another time, right Avatar?”

“Right.” Korra hadn’t unclenched her jaw, or her fists, and as Tenzin looked between them anxiously, she stepped back, the fire extinguishing. Kuvira nodded at them both and swept smoothly past in the direction Asami had gone, shooting Korra one last smirk over her shoulder. _If I find out you've touched Asami...._

“Korra…” Tenzin’s voice had a familiar tone.

“I know, Tenzin.” She breathed deeply, bringing her chi back to normal. “I lost control. She was…well, she was taunting me about Asami.”

“Miss Sato?” Tenzin’s catapillar brows lifted. “But why would she….oh. _Oh_! I see.” A slow smile spread over his face and he looked at Korra with new, softer eyes.

“Yeah, but….” Korra felt a sob coming; the sudden exertion of rage and Avatar energy had emotionally exhausted her. “I messed things up already, so I may as well just step back and let Kuvira move in.”

“I don’t think that’s what Miss Sato would want, if you’d ask her.” Tenzin wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave a comforting squeeze. “You know, I don’t think I’d ever seen that girl cry until you left. Pema and I spent a lot of time with her. She would come to the Air Temple practically every night to sleep in your room.”

“She slept in my room?” Korra looked up at her teacher, hope straining against its bonds in her belly.

Tenzin nodded, giving her one more paternal hug. “I think it’s time you two have a talk. I’m seated next to her at the feast tonight. Take my spot.” He suggested, and smoothed the wild strands of her hair that had come undone during the brief struggle with Kuvira. 

“Really?” Korra brightened. “Tenzin, that would be wonderful, thank you so much.”

“But you’d better get a move on,” he cautioned. “I’m not sure where Kuvira is sitting.”

“Right.” Korra turned, but the duty she had in her heart called her back. “Tenzin, I know Kuvira may not be one of my favorite people right now, but I really do think she’s up to something with those mecha tanks. We need to keep an eye on her.”

“I’m beginning to think you’re right,” Tenzin sighed. “I didn’t want to mention this in case it was a miscommunication, but Mako says Kuvira missed two different palace deadlines to meet and discuss terms. It’s too soon to tell, but this power shift may not be as smooth as we all hoped.”

Korra nodded, and took off down the hall. 

The feast had started, and the celebrations were underway. Korra had to duck multiple dignitaries and well-wishers as she made her way to the central table, her eyes fixed on where Asami sat, thankfully alone for the moment. Kuvira was on the opposite side of the room, surrounded by a press of reporters, and she narrowed her eyes to see Korra get to the table before her.

“Hi.” She gulped. Asami looked up at her with a mild scowl, but she noticed a slight softening as the heiress took in her flushed state. “I…um…I need to talk to you.”

“What if I don’t want to talk?” Asami rejoined, but her tone lacked any real fire. She sighed deeply and looked down at the pool of fabric her dress created on the floor, like blood around her feet.

“Then maybe you can just listen. There’s something I need to say to you, and I need you to hear it.” Asami’s head lifted to catch her eyes and for a breathless moment, she saw them soften and saw that same warmth and connection that they had shared laying intimate and naked in Asami’s bed. Korra took in a breath, readying herself for what she wanted to say, and sat down, slipping her hand into pale, delicate fingers, as Asami looked at her in mingled surprise, confusion and wild, reckless hope.

“Asami, I-“

“Miss Sato, Avatar Korra.” Kuvira intoned wickedly from behind her. “I hope you don’t mind if I join you.”

_Fuck._

 


	2. Chapter 2

Asami fidgeted. She couldn’t keep still. Kuvira was sedately describing some of the innovations Future Industries had been responsible for to a nearby investor, but she couldn’t bring herself to poke into the conversation aside from mild agreement. Korra was next to her, picking at her meal with an unusual lack of interest, and she kept shooting sidelong glances at Asami with an unreadable face.

‘ _There’s something I need to say to you, and you need to hear it_ …’ Korra’s words were echoing through her mind and she had no interest in hearing anything else than whatever the thing was that Korra had to say. _Please let this dinner be over soon_ , she prayed, but she knew that was a futile hope: after dinner came the dancing, and she’d already promised Kuvira a spin on the dance floor. The commander was being extra conscientious to include her in all the planned events, and she didn’t want to disappoint, even if Kuvira was being rather weird around Korra.

She had no idea what that little hallway scene was about. The two of them staring at each other over her shoulder was disconcerting, the way both the Avatar and the metal bender appeared to each have actual hackles raised. As far as she could tell, they hadn’t spoken one word to each other in her presence before this incident, so as to what had sparked a sudden hatred for each other, she didn’t know. She only knew it was now obvious: whenever the commander addressed the Avatar, she had a slight lip curling sneer, and the Avatar had barely concealed rage. She didn’t know why Korra was so upset, but it aided to her nervous worry about _what_ she could possibly want to say.

She looked down at her meal, feeling slightly sick. The mention of her name made her jerk.

“-inventions are really the key to her success, of course. Future Industries would be nothing without her, and neither would the Earth Kingdom.” Kuvira cast a smile her direction, something playful in the sparkling grey of her eyes.

 _She’s pretty,_ Asami realized with a start. _I think she likes me, which is a little inconvenient. If I was over Korra maybe..._ She cleared her throat. “Kuvira is too kind, I’ve had a lot of wonderful help over the years.” She replied, modestly, and cast her eyes back at Korra, wondering why the mention of Kuvira’s name from her lips seemed to give the Avatar such pain.

“Assuredly so, as do we all during our toughest times.” Kuvira’s austere face was warmly friendly, and she reached out to grab Asami’s hand on her napkin. From next to her, she heard a strangled cough and the table seemed to bounce aggressively, but she was distracted by what Kuvira was saying. “But you sell yourself short, Asami. I’ve heard the stories. You carry half of Republic City’s debts if the rumors are to be believed.”

Asami flushed. She had been raised to not discuss financial matters at the dinner table. Hiroshi was a firm believer in etiquette. “Yes, well…”

“Ah she’s demurring!” Kuvira let out a throaty, delighted chuckle. “What a marvel. You’re quite humble for a CEO.” She teased, still not withdrawing her hand until she ran her fingers over Asami’s knuckles and sent a ghost of a shiver through her spine.

“I’ve always known Asami was amazing.” They all turned to look at the Avatar. Korra had spoken up so suddenly that Asami didn’t know if she had actually intended to speak out loud. She blushed and faltered. “I mean…uh…she helps keep the balance of the world with me, the Avatar, she’s not a typical CEO.”

_That was strange. She sounds so awkward, is she-_

“Well, yes Avatar,” Kuvira’s tone was so patronizing she couldn’t help but feel for Korra as she winced. “But we’re currently discussing her business acumen. You see, my friend Kei Jinhao over here owns a sizeable steel reserve.” She explained, as if to a child. Korra bristled, but her embarrassment seemed to hold her tongue. “Miss Sato-my apologies, _Asami_ has need of his steel reserve, and he plans to maintain an investment in her company… so long as she continues her excellent support of our efforts here to unite the Earth Kingdom.”

“Isn’t the Earth Kingdom essentially united already?” Korra practically spat, questioning insolently. “Why are you still here and not planning for your transition of power?”

The metal bender’s smile was unreadable. “All in good time, Avatar. Such complex military and political issues aren’t as simple to work out as one might assume.” Her eyes glittered briefly, and she turned back to Mr. Jinhao.

While this was undoubtably true, she couldn’t help but feel Kuvira had given Korra the brush-off. Something about this whole situation was just awkward and completely stilted. She perceived that there was a whole conversation that she hadn’t been privy to after she left the hallway, resulting in some kind of major tension between the two women, involving her in some way but she didn’t-

And then it hit her. _Asami, you blistering idiot. They’re fighting over_ _you_. She felt the blood rush out of her face, and her nails clenched into the heavy cloth of the table spread. Kuvira cast her an appraising gaze over her shoulder as she spoke to the investor, and Korra’s eyes were downcast, morosely glaring at a meal she wasn’t eating, but she looked up at Asami with an expression that could only be described as ‘hangdog’.

_Oh Spirits help me. This love triangle nonsense again. I guess this makes me Mako, how lovely. But is it the fact that Kuvira wants me that has Korra so interested…or is it the other way around?_

Thankfully, the dinner was finally ending, and the plates were being cleared away in preparation for the dance. Couples were already drifting towards the dance floor as the quartet set up, all metal benders who used their skills to make their instruments reverberate in a particularly unique way. She watched them play, feeling distracted, until a hand interrupted her view.

“-this dance, Asami?” Kuvira was asking politely. The investors and dignitaries had moved away, but Korra was still there: Asami could feel her glaring daggers at Kuvira without turning around.

“Of course. I promised, didn’t I?” She lifted her chin to smile at the Great Uniter, allowing herself to be led onto the dance floor by that firm hand on her back, but she couldn’t help but cast one last glance back at Korra, who had risen and was watching them miserably, her fists clenching at her sides. The sight of Korra so upset had a sobering effect on her, and she turned away, trying to focus on Kuvira and the dance. The Great Uniter was leading her in a sombre procession around the floor, her eyes on Asami’s bare shoulders, while she held her just close enough to be on the verge of improper.

“How do you like the modifications I’ve made to your arm-mounted cannons? Those new mecha tanks are practically unstoppable.” Kuvira was trying, she had to give her that. Asami favored her with a smile; she enjoyed chatting shop when she had the chance.

“Seems like you may have overbalanced them,” she responded playfully. “My original design wouldn’t be tripped up by such a large gun.”

“Sometimes you need a larger weapon to get things done.” Kuvira grinned at her. It didn’t make her heart skip a beat, like Korra did, but it was close. She laughed, unbridled, and allowed the commander to swirl her around. She was trying to ignore the pit in her stomach about what this image might be doing to Korra. She’d looked so hurt.

_Don’t be silly. She’s the one who wanted to be friends. She’s just being possessive someone else might want me._

Still, she couldn’t quite chase the vision of Korra’s face out of her mind when she said she had to tell her something. She knew what her romantic heart wanted, and had wanted since the first time Korra had crashed their lips together in her bed, but the rejection of the morning still stung so sharply that she didn’t dare to hope, aside from the tiniest sliver she couldn’t fully control. She was also a little, well, a lot, ashamed of her behavior in the alley. First she was bending over like a whore, then she was storming out. She didn’t know what was _going on with her_ lately.

Lost in her musings, she was brought up short when Korra tapped Kuvira on the shoulder. “Hey Great Uniter, go unite back up with your investors. I’ve got this dance.”

  
Her tone brooked no argument, and with her eyes determined and full of that Avatar glare, she made Asami’s heart flutter without her consent. Without waiting for Kuvira’s response (which didn’t really matter anyway, and she knew Korra knew that) she detached herself and took Korra’s hand, sliding into her embrace as naturally as a letter in an envelope.

Kuvira was left staring at them in with a twisted, furious look on her face but Asami could not find it in her to care. Every single nerve ending was on fire to be this close, to be touching the woman who had made her body sing, instead of keeping her at arm’s length as she had been doing for a week now. Korra’s hand slipped down her partially-bared spine to rest above her ass in a soft, magnetic pull that drew her hips closer, making her shudder at the heat of the touch. She put her arms around Korra’s shoulders, inviting closeness far more intimate than she had allowed with Kuvira. There was a heady scent in her nose: a little sweat, a little cold water clarity, incense and sweet musk. That was Korra. She closed her eyes, helpless, as the music slowed with perfect timing and they swayed.

“Asami..” She heard, and inclined her head toward the sound without thinking. Korra’s forehead met hers, and the Avatar whispered her name again, brokenly. “Asami, I miss you…I have so many things I need to say to you.”

She put a finger on Korra’s lips, aware of the thrilling softness there, as they whirled with the other couples. “Just hold me right now. Don’t ruin this with words.”

Reflecting, she was probably too harsh, but it was true: whatever Korra wanted to say may tear apart this moment ( _or it could enhance it_ , her traitor’s heart whispered) and she just wanted to stay in it. Korra’s arms around her bare waist tightened and she relished the increased contact. She rested her head on the Avatar’s strong shoulder, feeling dreamlike. _She’s always so warm. I love that._

They moved together with liquid slowness as the metal strings vibrated in a pleasant rhythm. Asami was vaguely aware that everyone was staring at them, that this was _not_ the way two friends danced, and that was ringing deeply muffled alarm bells somewhere because that had something to do with how Korra had acted that morning...but she wasn’t paying attention. Her nose was full of the warm scent, and her body was being cradled so lovingly, so gently, that she was feeling like the porcelain some compared her skin to; which was new and not altogether unpleasant, although she generally avoided looking fragile whenever possible. Korra made her feel safe.

She raised her head, and caught Korra’s darkened blue eyes, and without thinking, pressed a kiss to her lips.

A gasp rippled through the assembled crowd and Asami’s eyes flew open in sudden shock, all of those internal alarm bells no longer muffled and ringing at high speeds. _What did. I. Just. Do._ She released her grip on Korra’s shoulders and pushed herself away, whirling off the dance floor with her cheeks flaming and her chest tight, silk skirts blossoming around her.

She fled, seeking the balcony where there wasn’t any people, any eyes to examine her, her heels clicking on the metal floor of the extended ‘petal’. Stars were splayed out brightly above, but to Asami they were a thousand eyes of the night, looking down at her curiously as if she were some sort of caged novelty. She clung to the railing and tried her best not to cry, after all that work she’d done on her eye makeup.

“You’ve always been faster than me.”

Korra’s voice echoed out over the balcony, full of a strange calm. She turned, and there she was, walking towards her with her eyes full of this strange light. _Please, not now, I can’t handle this without crying._

“Always. I remember when I first met you I thought that there wasn’t anyone that could be as fast as me, but there you were. Whipping around that racetrack like a demon.” She chuckled at the memory.

“Korra, what-“ She started, ready to explode with emotion, but this time it was Korra’s finger on her lips.

“I’m sorry I left you that morning. I’m sorry I said I wanted to be friends.” She was being drawn into an embrace, a hand once again scorching her bare waist while fingers played with the hair at the base of her neck, luxuriating in it. Korra’s eyes were the brightest blue she’d ever seen and there were tears welling in the corners. “I don’t want to be friends, Asami. I love you.”

 _Oh_.

 _Oh_.

 _Help_.

She blinked, stunned. Her whole body shuddered and she shook herself. “Say that again,” she pleaded, feeling delirious and feverstruck.

“I _love you_ , Asami.”

And then Korra was kissing her, and it was unbelievably sweet. She nearly screamed her happiness back into the mouth that caressed her, and grabbed Korra’s head with both hands, kissing and kissing her like she was on fire and Korra’s lips were the only way she could save herself. She was aware that the moaning and sobs she was hearing were coming from herself, but she was helpless to stop as Korra departed her mouth, kissing down her neck and pressing herself against the beauty mark on her clavicle.

“ _Fffuck_ ,” she gasped out, still half-sobbing. “You couldn’t have said that earlier?”

Korra caught her chin and kissed it, wiping away her tears. “No, I was an idiot. Forgive me?”

“Let me think about it,” she sighed, and wrapped her arms around Korra. “You can probably make it up to me.”

“Anything you ask.” Korra looked at her and the seriousness of that answer took her breath away, yet again.

“Take me to my bedroom.” She purred into the Avatar’s ear, fingers twining in the small hairs at the back of her neck, having the desired effect as Korra went through a whole-body shudder and convulsed against her. She felt muscles bunch under her hands like a wild animal preparing to strike, and then she was being crushed against Korra’s body, her lips being taken so fast that she had to gasp for breath between each furious kiss.

She didn’t know how they got back to her room. Faces passed in a blur, but Korra was pulling her along so fast she couldn’t recognize anyone. She thought she caught a glimpse of the soldier that Kuvira had ordered to help her with her luggage, standing in the hallway, but just as quickly he disappeared and so did her questions. Korra backed her into the door, murmuring and pressing her hands everywhere she could find bare skin. Asami struggled to grope for the doorknob behind their bodies but Korra kept pinning her hands and kissing her wrists and the sensations made her sigh, twisting like a leaf in the wind.

Finally she held Korra back with one hand on her chest, laughing. “You need to let me open the door unless you want to fuck me in this hallway.” She teased, eyes bright. There was so much inside of her that was swelling, golden, spilling its warm rays everywhere like she’d swallowed the sun.

“Who says I don’t?” Korra growled, and her throat caught but she managed to find the knob in that second and pulled Korra inside, yanking at the cerulean fabric of her dress and giggling as they stumbled. As soon as the metal door clicked closed, she was being shoved against it, crying out in shock and overwhelming sensation as the cool surface hit the heat of her back. Instinctively, she hooked a leg around Korra’s hip, and then the Avatar slid fierce hands under her backside and lifted. Her legs locked around Korra’s waist and the body against her pinned her to the door like a butterfly on a dissecting box, able to hold Asami’s light weight with ease. She looped her arms around the tanned shoulders, feeling weightless. _She’s so strong. How do I always forget that she’s the Avatar?_

Korra’s firm hands departed her bottom, sliding roughly against it with ownership, as they moved to claim the rest of her body. Kisses scorched along her neck, sucking and biting. “Ahh,” she panted, aware that her lower body was arching up to meet Korra like it was a separate entity from herself. She pushed against the pleasure forming in her lower limbs, rolling her hips forward into Korra’s abdomen.

Korra’s head jerked up from her neck at the sound and her eyes flooded with concern. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” She loosened her grip as if to let Asami down, but the heiress pulled her tighter.

“Where’s this concern coming from?” She tantalized, letting her tongue dart out to swoop over her lower lip. That did the trick. Korra groaned and reaffirmed her grip. “You weren’t so worried about hurting me the first time.”

As soon as the words left her lips, however, she knew it was the wrong thing to say. Korra’s eyes swelled with sadness and she braced herself on the door to run a hand over the curve of Asami’s cheek. “I should’ve been. I’m sorry, I-“

“Hush.” She captured Korra’s pouting lower lip with her teeth and dragged it sensuously down. “I’m not complaining. I _liked_ it.” The Avatar’s eyes widened and her mouth curved into a suggestive smile, which encouraged her to keep going. “I loved feeling you pin me, and the marks all over me…made me feel like I was yours.” She shifted and dug her heels into the firm spine, arching to the small hiss of pain she drew from Korra's lips. 

"Make me yours.” She suggested, her voice thick. 

“You’re _**mine**_.” The word was echoed by a pantheon of other voices, and for a moment Korra’s oceans of blue were replaced by blinding white, but she wasn’t scared as she perhaps should have been. It thrilled her, excited her, and her body pulsed in anticipation of being taken. She pressed herself against the Avatar in all her glory, making small keening noises in her throat as hands roughly moved to pull up her dress, bunching it around her waist.

“Do it, Avatar,” she husked encouragement as fingers radiating power slid over the front of her panties, sending shivers of need through her body. She slid her hand down and laced her fingers with Korra’s, feeling like a completely primal version of herself as she guided the Avatar under her panties, sending their joined fingers into a silken wet heat. She hissed, bucking when Korra needed no further encouragement and plunged inside, seeking more warmth. Her hand fell away and drew back onto olive-skinned shoulders for support as her head lolled on her shoulders, sucking breath through her teeth as she chanted to rile her lover further. “Do it...fill me, make me yours- _ahhh_!”

Those fingers were curling wickedly inside her, finding that spot and sending it throbbing as teeth descended on the exposed upper flesh of her breasts. She was going to have marks again, and her thighs would ache from the spread that Korra’s pumping fingers demanded, but every part of her sang in response. Feeling so open like this, trapped against the door and trapped by the bunched fabric of the dress, pinned by Korra’s lust and devoured by her mouth….it was she had left her body behind and was merely a vessel of want, an object of pure desire.

There was tearing, and a blissfully hot mouth embraced her nipple, popping it free of her dress and breast band with one smooth motion. _There goes that Fire Nation silk. Oh well, worth it: I’d buy a thousand dresses to let Korra rip each one off of me._ The thought made her shiver and buck. Teeth scraped along her nipple and she was helpless to stop her groans from echoing deep in her body. The pumping inside her was rhythmic, almost soothing to her insatiable desire to be filled, to be claimed, and her hips moved with each thrust, trying to accommodate more of Korra inside of her. She felt overwhelmed with a strange desire to take all of the Avatar into her body.

“More,” she begged, shameless as her hips twitched. “ _Please_ , I need more of you!”

Her nipple left Korra’s moaning mouth with a wet popping sound. “We have to move to the bed, this angle…” The Avatar groaned in frustration as her fingers reached inside of Asami, straining to fill her.

“I know,” she soothed, stroking the sweat-dampened hair of her lover. “I know. We have to get this dress off and then you can fuck me proper.” She promised, her eyes glinting a naughty jade-green as her legs unlocked and Korra slipped from her to let her slide back down to the floor. Her legs wobbled on the heels, and she had to be supported again with strong pair of arms, as she caught her breath. “Oof, my legs don’t want to work. What did you do?”

“Let me make it up to you.” Korra grinned and in one effortless motion had tucked an arm under her knees and another under her back, holding Asami’s body to her chest as if she weighed less than nothing. She laughed with delight as Korra waggled her eyebrows playfully at her and stalked over to the bed, carrying her bridal-style until she gently deposited her on the soft covers, moving over her body as Asami rose to kiss her and pull at her dress.

“We’re still both clothed!” She complained, aware she was squirming as Korra’s hands roamed her, giving her relief and driving her mad all in one. “Take…take this off!” She plucked at the dress, feeling suddenly furious that it was preventing her from touching her lover’s caramel skin. Korra kissed her with such a gentle, loving compliance that she whined when she felt the Avatar’s body roll off of hers, but cried out in joy again moments later when the long, tanned length of her body pressed against her partially-clothed skin. She slid her hands from shoulders down her lover’s battered spine, feeling with some reverence and anguish the scars there, and cupped the firm, bunching muscles of Korra’s ass, encouraging her to grind down, to push her more fully into the mattress.

“Not so fast,” Korra was panting, and Asami was ridiculously pleased to see her wanton behavior had had such an effect. “Gotta take this dress off so I can fuck you _proper_ , remember?”

“Just tear it off,” she suggested impatiently, offering herself under Korra. The Avatar gasped, laughing, and kissed her as she slid her hands gently to the back of the gown, finding the small buttons that held it in place and popping them off with her fingers like little fireworks that bounced against Asami’s back. She lifted her arms and her hips obediently as the silk was drawn off of her body like a long kiss, and heard, but didn’t see, the soft sigh as it tumbled to the floor.

Next her chest band, already partially ripped, went fully from her body in two pieces, springing her breasts free with a soft bounce, and her panties slipped off before she was aware it was happening. Korra bunched the fabric in her hand and drew it to her nose, inhaling as her eyes darkened. The act was so intimate it made Asami shudder and her legs fell open, exposing her parted lips.

Korra’s eyes raked down her body with possessive thoroughness as she held herself above Asami on her arms. The heiress remembered with sudden clarity that in their last encounter she had been clothed, against the wall, and before that there was only the single flickering light of the lantern that had eventually guttered and died. This was their first time seeing each other in better lighting, as the soft orbs of the metal bending city glowed softly green-white in the corners of her room. She had to fight the sudden urge to cover up, and did the reverse instead: arching her back to thrust her body up for the Avatar’s eyes, putting herself on display.

“So beautiful. You’re so fucking beautiful…it... it actually _hurts_.” Korra’s voice was cracked, broken with emotion, and Asami realized with a painful sweetness that it was love, and not just lust in her eyes. She molded her hand around her lover’s cheek to catch the small tear that trembled there, and Korra kissed it lovingly, nuzzling into the touch. “I don’t…I feel like I can’t possibly deserve you, but I want you anyway.”

“I feel the same way,” she confessed, sliding her hand down Korra’s body to rest over her heart, which thudded fiercely under her palm. And she did. Looking down the athletic length of Korra’s body, rippling under the glorious glowing tan of her skin, so unlike her own softly feminine body that the contrast set her aflame. She was the Avatar, who had trained in bending arts her entire life and was, in this moment, at near-peak physical perfection. And yet, in the same moment, the courageous, passionate, sweet, silly creature that was Korra lived alongside that ancient being of limitless power, guiding and directing it with her faithful, boundless heart. That was the true source of Asami’s aching desire. This joyous, thumping heart that made her own want to leap out of her chest, to go explore together the wildwood of their shared love.

“I wanted you from the moment I saw you, I think.” The words were drawn out of her as if by mystical forces. She didn’t feel fully in control, as if her heart was speaking without any attachment to the body around it, but everything felt safe, and every word was true, even if saying it out loud was the first time she’d realized it. “I didn’t know who I was more jealous of, at first, and it was so confusing. That’s why I stayed around while you were with Mako, I think…I was waiting. And then, after you were poisoned and I took care of you, in those nights when you reached for me, I think my want turned into love, and while you were gone, it never went away. It’s never left me, this whole time, even when I didn’t want-“

But her last words were swallowed by Korra’s mouth, as hot tears dropped burning onto her face, in her hair and onto their joining lips, making the kiss salty: rife with unfettered things and the nature of all that is free. She reached for her then, feeling incomplete unless they were melting against her each other. Korra sank onto her with delicious weight and she moaned, wrapping her legs around the beloved body that moved desperately against her.

She slid her fingers down Korra’s body, seeking and finding the places that she knew would make her moan and release those slow thrusts of her hips, running her palms over her nipples until the buds stiffened and then pinching to draw them further for her touch. Korra’s hand swept over her mouth and she kissed and sucked the fingers into her mouth, her tongue lapping at the digits. “Sami, you’re killing me.” The groan was so deep she felt it against her belly.

“Let it happen, I want to touch you until we both can’t come anymore or we die.” Asami bit at the pads of Korra’s fingertips. She was aware that there was a lustful, needy monster tearing its way from her throat to say such things, but she didn’t care. The words set her higher aflame and Korra was burning just as high as she was.

She dragged her nails down Korra’s toned belly, feeling the muscles suck in as she did so, red lacquered daggers bringing pink streaks down the brown skin. The soft brush of hair against her palm, and then hot melting wetness, so much that it flooded her and drenched her to the wrist. She circled the rising, stiffening blossom of Korra’s clit, and as usual, it responded with such throbbing fullness that she felt herself pulse with an answering call. The Avatar threw her head back as Asami slid her fingers inside, seeking and curling, and then she dropped it on her chest, drawing a reddened nipple into her mouth, which in turn wrenched a cry from Asami’s lips. A hot hand slid past her own thrusting arm, down to the cradle of her hips, circling the sharp points of her hip bones and then dipping further, slipping back inside her with a sudden rushing fullness. Two fingers this time, and much deeper than she’d been able to get with the angle against the door.

Asami’s back arched like a samurai bow, and she nearly screamed with the aching stretch that burned and soothed her in the same motion. She nearly forgot she was also inside of Korra until her hips slammed against her fingers, needy, and she resumed her strokes, gasping against the pressure inside her. Korra’s thumb rolled against her clit, forcing the little bud from its protective cradle, and coating it in her wetness, and she unconsciously mimicked the gesture with her own thumb, drawing a sharp moan from the Avatar that was music to her ears. Korra raised her head and looked into her eyes, the hint of blinding white behind the oceans of blue causing Asami to buck her hips faster.

For what felt like a gasping eternity, they flexed and thrust and moved together, slippery at their twined legs with joining slickness, fingers moving together as if one. Asami no longer remembered whose body she belonged to: she was floating somewhere at their centers, feeling golden light tremble out from her pores as white heat poured into her from Korra. At last, there seemed to be something building in her body, somewhere far below and she returned to herself blissfully as her walls started to flutter around Korra’s fingers, which sped up their rhythm inside her, pounding now with incredible speed. Little spurts of almost-release were drenching their hands, but Asami was helpless to stop it from pulsing out of her. She thrashed her sweat-dampened hair, crying out as her spare hand clutched the bed and her other hand sped up to match Korra’s thrusts as best she could.

But she was helpless to match the speed of the Avatar. Force took hold of her as if that white glow was pushing inside of her alongside Korra’s fingers, aiding her to rush Asami towards the most intense orgasm she had ever had in her life. The thumb on her clit blurred and the sensations reached absolute zenith when Korra leaned to look into her half-lidded eyes and whisper the words that undid her soul.

“I love you so much, Asami.”

“ _Ohhhh_!” Asami became a morass of flashing flushed skin, black hair and screaming red lips. Hoarse wordless cries emptied from her throat as the orgasm hit her with full force, pulling scream after scream from her like an endless drawing breath. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. She was taut and yet limber, still and yet moving crazily all in one dragging, perfect moment where Korra’s eyes met hers and the come pulsed out of her until she was sure she would empty her whole self onto Korra’s hand. This felt like dying and like birth all in one, like burning alive and coming apart in a beautiful, perfect rush. The white heat filled her, and it pushed her red-golden glow until it burst from her skin, twining in waves of blue and silver-white that seemed to be floating just between their bodies. A second orgasm tore through her body, leaving fire in its wake and she could only moan, weak as a kitten, until the fingers finally withdrew from her and she could recuperate.

Something woke her from a dazed, almost-slumber in the blissful aftershocks: Korra hadn’t come yet. She started the thrusting again, her fingers rolling within the heat that clenched almost painfully tight now, clearly delayed by her explosive coming. Korra moaned and bucked _hard_ against her, so hard it shook the solid metal frame of the bed, but something was frustrating her, Asami could tell.

“Baby,” she murmured, kissing the pink shell of Korra’s ear and drawing her tongue along the edge, eliciting a pained whimper. “Let go, it’s okay.”

“I’ll…fff…I’ll hurt you.” Korra’s voice was so thick with need that it was gravelly. “I can’t hold it back, and I don’t want that.”

The thought of the woman she loved straining to hold back the Avatar within, just to keep her safe made Asami’s heart skip a beat. She kissed Korra with all of her strength, most’ve which felt like it was still ebbing from between her thighs, and pulled her fingers from the snug grasp of Korra’s pussy. Korra moaned back plaintively and she soothed with her tongue, sliding down her body as she went. Korra almost protested, her hands shooting down to pull Asami back up, but she caught them with her own and whispered into the skin of the Avatar’s belly as it shook from her lips. “You won’t hurt me. I trust you. If you won’t come on my fingers, you can let go into my mouth.”

Korra’s eyes widened but she wasn’t looking anymore, she was kissing her way down the toned V of the Avatar’s abdomen. When she got to the puffy, pouting sex beneath the messy thatch of black curls, she wasted no time: Korra had been waiting long enough, and she wanted the taste of her pent-up come to fill her greedy mouth. Her lips and tongue swirled out, around the aching, throbbing clit that swelled impossibly larger in her mouth. Korra’s hand shot to the back of her head and the other braced itself on the bed, clenching a handful of expensive down-filled pillow as if it were a rag. She groaned Asami’s name, and the sound caused the heiress to wrap her lips around the fullness of her clit and suck it into her mouth, drawing her tongue along the sensitive underside.

She nearly couldn’t breathe as Korra’s hips pumped into her face, but she kept up her suction, rolling her tongue as she did and moving her mouth up and down with Korra’s frantic, ardent thrusts. Fingers knotted in her hair and she moaned against Korra, the sound causing vibrations from her lips to echo through the Avatar’s shuddering body. Her hands came up to cup the thrusting, tight muscles of Korra’s ass to draw her more firmly into her mouth. She felt ravenous, savage, a creature to be used for pleasure and it drove her wild. She lifted slightly to look into Korra’s darkened face staring down at her actions with fierce intensity that sent a frightened arousal through her. She moaned again, and let the supplication of the sound fill the atmosphere, showing her submissive, overwhelming love and trust with all of her heart through her emerald eyes.

_Take me, do what you want to me, I trust you…_

  
Hot, salty come splashed into her mouth and ran down her chin before she could begin swallowing to accommodate it, covering her breasts in a glistening shine. She slowed the pace of her lips suction but continued the sweeping of her tongue, milking as much of the release as she could while Korra groaned and shuddered against her, almost falling onto her hands. She’d never felt this complete, and her eyes were still locked onto her lover’s as Korra’s orgasms rocked through the bed.

Finally, when her whole body was wet with mingled sweat and come, and Korra was sobbing as she stroked her head, the waves subsided and she allowed herself to be pulled up to meet the Avatar’s lips. Loving hands stroked over her sides as they kissed, sending lingering tingles through her, and though she was still exhausted from her earlier release, she knew Korra could make her come alive again with just more of that simple touch. Absolute magic.

She wrapped her sleepy limbs around Korra’s, feeling the Avatar kiss the crown of her head and draw the sheet up to cover their bodies so they could doze. “Love you,” Korra whispered, as if she couldn’t get enough of saying it.

“I love you, too.” She whispered into Korra’s heart, and felt the Avatar’s smile spread like warmth on her skin while she realized, with drawing slowness, that this was the first time she had said it aloud. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a look inside of Asami's mind during this chapter, listen to 'Warm Blood' by Flor*. https://g.co/kgs/QMcYHm
> 
> *also the song I listen to when scrolling through #korrasami on tumblr, fyi, which inspires most of these works, and without which i would not be writing again


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick insight into what Kuvira's planning, and it is predictably creepy...

It was nearly dawn, but Kuvira hadn’t slept. She paced angrily in the foyer of her suite, as her most loyal lieutenant waited at attention. He had reported just what she suspected: the Avatar had taken Asami back to her room after kissing her on the balcony, and was even now in the throes of passion with her, a fact that needed no reinforcement thanks to the fact that she could hear the dark-haired heiress being fucked to a crescendo through the air vents.

“Don’t stop, don’t stop, _yessss Korrrrraaaaa!”_

The lieutenant winced slightly, as the sound reverberated in the room, but Kuvira only shook her head angrily: the noises had been going all night. When she’d planned to house the Sato girl in the suite with the sound conductors that ran to her room, she hadn’t planned on the Avatar thoroughly pounding her into submission while she listened in half-arousal, half-rage.

The Avatar had ruined months of planning, and not just by fucking the target of her well-plotted scheme: her little airbender friend had spotted their reserve platoon of mecha tanks, and now she was forced to move them ahead of schedule. Not only that, but the earth bender boy ( _Bolin_ , her brain reminded her) she’d recruited specifically to bring the Sato heiress back from Republic City had discovered her plan, and she was forced to jail him along with the Beifongs, who had attempted to move against her in the earlier hours before the gala. Even if the Avatar hadn’t interrupted her attempts at wooing the girl, she would’ve been forced to play her hand. Today was the day.

A year ago, when she’d worked out that the largest controlling interest in Republic City was one Miss Asami Sato, the CEO of Future Industries and heiress to the already-sizeable Sato Corp fortune, she had laid in motion a plan to take the city by silent, financial coup. Control of the city's debts would give her leverage over Raiko, and leverage over Raiko meant an alliance that would keep her in power. To give up her power was unthinkable: she was the Great Uniter, and had been the only leader the Earth Kingdom could truly claim. That little pretender in the palace was just that, a pretender. The only issue was the military support Republic City could draw upon, and she risked open war if she moved outright to declare power, so she had delayed and obstructed for as long as she could without appearing too suspicious to those that mattered, and set in motion her plan. Asami Sato was well known to have had a heterosexual relationship, but far more damning was the information she managed to obtain from well-placed sources within the household: a certain selection of artistic scrolls, books, and tapestries, all featuring women loving other women, some extremely explicit. In addition, she'd been seen at a few...clubs...within the city that catered to a specific upper class clientele of same sex lovers. It didn't hurt that the girl was considered by some to be the greatest beauty of her time. Kuvira was a fan of beauty, no matter the sex of the person. 

With sudden coldness, she had abandoned her plan to marry Baatar Jr Beifong, an architect and engineer who had helped her design her greatest work, but that was no great loss. Another opportunity had simply presented itself, a better opportunity. She had been using him and he had gradually outlived his potential, becoming only been a means to an end, but it upset the Beifongs greatly, and it upset them even more when they learned she had sent Bolin to the city to collect the Sato heiress with the express purpose of marrying her, although Bolin had no idea that was his mission; she’d told him some lie about showing Raiko the mettle of her forces. The boy was sweetly loyal, but dumb. He didn’t question why someone like him would be sent, or why she kept him close, thanks to his connection to the Avatar.

 _The Avatar._ She hadn’t counted on Korra’s presence ruining her plans so thoroughly. By all accounts the Sato girl hadn’t spoken to her in days, and their friendship was always presumed to be tense due to a rivalry over a Fire Bender boy, so if anything, she thought it would be easy to convince Asami to potentially have to go against the Avatar, but she was wrong. Wrong on several counts, actually, and it infuriated her. There had been a moment on the dance floor with the heiress in her arms that she’d been convinced this would be cake, that she could have the girl wet and willing for her in a day or two, a week tops, but then the Avatar had so rudely cut in, and that kiss had told a world of information that her sources had somehow missed.

Her lieutenant shifted, awaiting further orders after he’d revealed his unpleasant intel. She cast him an irritable look, and continued pacing, working out details. They would need to force the girl into it now, but it could still be done: Raiko would never know it wasn’t a willing match if she could keep the girl at Zaofu and have the Beifongs forcibly coerced into witnessing. The Avatar would need to be distracted, if not removed entirely, of course, but she could move her mecha tanks to the city in preparation of her possible return. Yes, it could still work, and she would make it work.

“Have the men move the mecha platoons to site B and wait for further orders.” She barked at her lieutenant. “Then you’ll need to convince the airbender girl that you’ve decided to reveal my plans, and draw her and the Avatar as far away from the city as possible. Once you’re there, disable or kill the Avatar and kill the airbender girl to keep her distracted. You may take any of our arm-mounted cannons and as much ammo as you wish, just don’t be conspicuous.”

Her lieutenant nodded, showing no sign of fear on his scant, emotionless face. He was the best killer in her arsenal; she had no doubt he would be at least a very disabling problem for the Avatar. “Yes commander. Shall I contain the girl when I get back, or send a squad to disable her once the Avatar is out of bounds?”

“No need,” Kuvira’s lips curled into a thin, deadly smile. “I’ll deal with Asami myself.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

Korra came back to consciousness with a snort, lifting her head in a daze from her drool-streaked pillow. From behind her she heard a soft giggle that melted her heart with tenderness as memories came rushing back. She rolled on her back, as the glorious morning was spreading across the Zaofu sky in rose-grey, gold and pink. But it held none of her attention compared to the woman she loved, sitting on the bed naked with sheets pooled around her waist and the sun rising behind her to set her black hair aflame, a shy and yet knowing smile on her face.

“C’mere,” she groped for Asami with one arm, feeling sleep-fogged and lazy. “How long was I out?” She asked as her lover snuggled against her to rest on her chest.

“Only a few hours. You should go back to sleep.” Her love murmured, laying a kiss on her neck.

“Nah.” She smiled her brightest and coaxed Asami’s creamy-soft hips onto her lap, seating her there like a queen in the morning sunlight as it spilled over her black hair tumbling down, her breasts high and proud with their rosy tips, her concave little belly that rippled with hidden abdominal muscles and there, at the join of their bodies, the soft curling thatch of hair that hid Korra’s new favorite thing in the world. She would never tire of this body, and the mind attached. She took the Avatar’s rough, dangerous passion like she was built for it, and perhaps she was. No one else she’d ever been with before had ever activated the Avatar State within her during sex, let alone joined their auras like a second melding of bodies. Asami was special.

Her hands cupped and kneaded the smooth pale globes beneath her hand, and Asami laughed with such loose happiness that it filled her with a now-familiar golden glow. The dark-haired girl leaned a hand on her chest and teasingly nipped her nose and chin, green eyes wild and soaring under the black cascade of her hair as it fell across her face. She surged up to kiss her and felt that instant rapture, that heat that consumed them both as their auras mingled. She tangled one of her hands in Asami’s hair to feel the silk and soft arms draped around her neck as she rolled her hips up into that tantalizing pressure where they joined, refusing to let go of Asami’s perfect ass.

They broke for air and Asami sighed, her hips meeting Korra’s with a languid roll of her own. “I should be sleepy but I’m not. I feel like I just slept all night instead of making love to you.”

“I think it’s an Avatar thing, we’re drawing energy from the universe.” She shrugged, playing with soft tendrils of hair at the base of Asami’s neck. “Don’t ask me how or why, but I just know we’re doing it.”

“Is that…okay?” Asami’s eyes searched her own, mildly worried. “I mean, doesn’t the universe need energy?”

“There’s a lot of energy in the universe, baby.” She reassured her, smiling softly. “We’ll take a little now but we give a lot back, all the time, trust me.”

“Oh.” Asami stilled against her. “There’s still so much I don’t know about…this.”

Korra kissed her gently. “You’ll learn. You learn faster than anyone I know.” Asami smiled at the compliment and her hips gave an encouraging little pulse.

“Besides,” Korra continued, truthfully, “this is new for me, too. The whole ‘my aura/your aura’ thing hasn’t ever happened before. But Tenzin said hundreds of years ago all people made love that way, and the Avatar is the link to the past, so who knows.”

“It’s beautiful.” Asami confided. “I love how it feels, I just feel like I know nothing about the world you live in.”

“You know what matters.” Korra told her, pressing gentle fingers to her heart. A wicked, non-romantic thought occurred to her and she waggled her eyebrows Bolin-style. “And you know how to do that thing with your tongue while you’re sucking me off.”

“Korra!” A hand smacked her chest but Asami was giggling, looking like a radiant creature as the sun hit her once more. She hesitated and offered, suggestively; “I could do it again if you like.”

Korra groaned and her fingers slipped down their bodies to play with Asami’s pouting folds. She slipped inside almost immediately thanks to the efforts of their all-night lovemaking, but just as quickly withdrew when she heard Asami’s hiss of pain between her teeth and concern won out over desire.

“Are you all right, baby?”

“Yes, just a little sore,” Asami let out a shaky breath and her tone was rueful. “I guess when I told you to ‘ _destroy me’_ earlier, that might’ve actually happened.”

“I’ll draw you a bath. I can do some healing to help you with some of that soreness.” Korra moved to get up, but Asami’s hands pinned her shoulders back to the bed.

“I didn’t say I wanted to stop. Besides, my _clit_ isn’t sore.”

Korra took the hint and her smile broadened, sliding her hand back down to play gentle circles around the receptive little bud. Asami’s hands slipped back down to Korra’s chest and she rocked her hips forward, hair falling in her face as she let out a purring moan. It was a breathtaking sight. Her fingers slid in Asami’s wetness, and she longed to taste her, but this view was just too good to pass up. Biting her lip, hips moving restless against Korra’s thighs and belly, Asami was fully concentrated on her pleasure, and Korra wouldn’t have it any other way.

Korra sped her motions up, knowing that Asami would get over-sensitive soon: they’d been making love all night and well into the wee hours of the morning and she could actually feel Asami’s beautiful heartbeat through her hood. She circled and then slid her fingers alongside, putting gentle pressure and releasing it, with firm strokes, and, when that quickly had Asami squirming in the way that she now read as ‘not enough’, she changed tactics fluidly and went for a rapid-fire flickering over the swollen head.

“Ahh, ahh,” Asami panted, shuddering a bit as Korra flicked her clit with the tip of a finger, pushing it back and forth. “ _Yesss_ , do it hard like that. Oh shit, oh _fuckkkk_ ….!”

She came, spilling sweetness all over Korra’s fingers, cursing like a sailor while looking like a goddess. Korra kept her hand still to allow her to rock her hips against it, getting pressure when she needed it during the throes of her orgasm. She loved all of this access to the secrets of Asami’s body that she was learning. How to read her sensitive spaces, how to know when to pull back and when to push it. How to make that reserved, collected girl whom she’d always admired fall apart and beg for more. It was intoxicating.

There was a sudden roaring in her chest and a terrible, awful, no-good, very-bad idea came to her as she gently played the last of Asami’s orgasm with her fingers. A smile that was not entirely innocent came to her and she added a hand, sliding through Asami’s slickness with ease, coating her fingers.

“Wha…what are you- _oh_!-doing?” Asami questioned breathily, making Korra’s arousal surge.

“You know what else isn’t sore?” She asked her lover wickedly as her newly drenched fingers slid past Asami’s weeping sex to center around her back entrance, circling and spreading the slick come as her other hand began to resume a lazy mimicking circle around the swollen redness of Asami’s well-used clit. The dark-haired beauty let out a shaky laugh when she realized what her lover wanted, and tilted her hips ever-so-slightly up to allow more stimulation. Korra switched the position of her hand from over to under and now she had an even better view: Asami was half-crouched over her, ass lifted, darkened green eyes looking up at her under the view of hair, while her hips rocked against Korra’s hand on her pussy and pushed back simultaneously on the finger circling her ass.

“Y-you’re gonna kill me,” she sucked in a harsh breath through her teeth, feeling the stimulus. “Aahhh, but it feels good.”

Korra didn’t reply, she was sinking in the tip of her finger, soothing Asami’s tight little muscles with her answering teasing strokes on her clit, mentally high-fiving herself for having this idea. She remembered from their earlier encounter how much Asami enjoyed a little backdoor action, and was determined to fill every part of her. Asami gasped and rocked her hips back as she slid all the way in, and Korra’s fingers picked up the motion on her clit. As much as she enjoyed this private pleasure, she knew Asami wouldn’t last long, over-fucked as she was. She decided to take a risk, and worked in a second finger.

It was a smart risk. Asami whimpered needily and her body convulsed around Korra, drawing her in deeper. She was panting now, and a glistening sheen of sweat made her payment-pale skin only more radiant. “ _Korraaa_ ,” she wailed. “What are you d- _doing_ to me?”

The question wasn’t redundant: she knew the answer Asami needed. “Fucking your tight little ass, baby.” She purred, and flexed her fingers through that delicate membrane that separated her from the other channel of desire while simultaneously flickering over her clit in that back-and-forth motion.

Asami went off like a firecracker on a festival day, bucking and lurching forward, painting Korra’s abdominal muscles with rivers of her pleasure, and screaming an endless supply of curse words into the room. Korra sincerely hoped it was soundproof: she hated to think of who may be hearing Asami’s pleasure other than her.

Asami fell forward onto her chest and Korra wrapped around her, sliding her hands free and resting them on Asami’s pale, trembling back. She rained kisses into the silk of her hair. This was bliss. Everything in her body felt like home, felt safe and secure for the first time since….maybe since she’d left the South Pole all those years ago. In this embrace, it was okay that she was the Avatar, it was okay how hurt and lost she’d been for so long, and it was okay that she sometimes still felt that way. Asami was there, and the golden flow of her aura was so comforting, so familiar that it reminded her of her own inner strength, of the security and peace that came with knowing she could always try, again, and again, and again, to get the world right.

“I love how you make me feel.” Asami’s hoarse voice echoed her thoughts.

“I love how you swear when you come.” She responded playfully, only to feel a sudden sharp pain in her chest. “Ow! Hey, no biting!”

Asami withdrew her sharp white teeth from Korra’s nipple, smiling darkly. “You absolutely earned that.” She responded primly, nestling in close again. “And I reserve the right to do it again.”

“Such a vicious little thing.” Korra crooned, stroking her back. This banter was made even more sweet by the fact that she knew it wouldn’t have to end. They could do this again tonight and again the next morning and again and again until Asami really was too sore to move. Elation filled her and she suddenly surged up, grabbing a squeaking, delighted Asami by her hips once more and tipping her back, falling between her legs as natural as anything and pinning her by her shoulders. “What’ll I do to you once I’ve captured you, now that’s the question.”

She took careful note of the way Asami’s shiver belied her laughter at Korra’s posturing. _She likes being restrained. Once we get home I’m tying her to that bed in the mansion and not letting her out for days. Give her a whole bouquet of Sato lilies with breakfast._

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. “Um…Asami? Is, um, is Korra in there with you?” Jinora’s voice was careful not to indicate any emotion as it echoed through the intercom by the door but Korra could hear her nerves.

Korra shot her lover a raised eyebrow and a smile. “Do you want to traumatize her or should we get dressed and pretend we were just ‘talking’?”

“Yes, _talking_. At dawn, in my bedroom.” Asami supplied, mock-helpful. “No, we should get dressed, but I doubt anything will traumatize her. Jinora’s a smart girl and she loves you, she’ll be happy for us.” A serene smile played across her face and Korra’s heart swelled for her.

This brought a sudden though to Korra’s mind. “So…you want to tell people?” She questioned, searching Asami’s face for answers.

“Yes.” She confirmed quietly, until a note of worry flitted across her classic features. “I mean, unless you aren’t ready, we could always-“

“No, I’m ready.” Korra leaned in and captured her lips, hoping she could convey her enthusiasm more thoroughly that way. “I’ve _been_ ready. I want to tell everyone, I want to scream it from the top of Zaofu. I want the whole world to know the Avatar loves Asami Sato.”

Asami giggled; there was such a high, golden happiness in it that it made Korra wrap her arms around her and bury her face in her neck, making faux-animal noises. “So long as you tell them Asami loves the Avatar right back,” she teased, “don’t want anyone thinking I’m not taken.”

“No you’re definitely taken.” Korra growled into her neck. “And I would take you again but there’s a fourteen year-old airbender at your door.”

Asami slid out from under her grasp, ignoring Korra’s whines of disapproval, leaving the bed to grab a robe draped over a chair. The fabric fell around her and clung alluringly as she belted it, drawing Korra’s eyes so she was almost hit in the face by a robe when Asami tossed her a similar one from a folded pile next to the bathroom. “Quit staring and get dressed,” she called over her shoulder as she moved to press a long, manicured finger to the intercom.

“Hi Jinora, Korra’s here, just give us a second.”

Korra could actually feel the airbender blush in the hallway. _Your kids should probably be getting the ‘dragon-birds and bee-bears’ talk as soon as possible, Tenzin, if they haven’t already,_ she thought, as she pulled the robe over her naked body and belted it tightly, drawing the sheets up as much as possible to make the bed look not-quite so messy. She grinned as she noted a tell-tale lingering damp spot in the sheets, and pulled the heavy brocade duvet up to cover it.

“Are you decent?” Asami asked, fluffing her hair to get some of the bed tousling out as she reached for the doorknob.

“Dressed, yes, decent, not entirely sure.” Korra assured her, a feral grin on her face, but the only response was a stray throw pillow that hit her firmly in the chest. “Oof.”

Asami rolled her eyes and turned the knob. “Come in, Jinora, and I’m sorry for how we’re dressed. It’s early.” She explained smoothly to the young airbender, who was gaping at her in the largest smile Korra had ever seen.

Jinora looked from Asami to Korra, to the still-rumpled bed, and her eyes widened. “You guys!” She squeaked. “You…you… _you guys_!”

We broke her, Asami mouthed over Jinora’s tattooed head, and Korra quickly stifled a laugh. “Yes, me and Asami are dating now. I hope you’re okay with it.”

Dating? She mouthed at Asami over the steadily increasing frenetic bouncing of the teenager.

Once you take me on a date, the red lips shot back.

“ _Okay_ with it? I’m…I’m-“ Jinora’s eyes welled up with tears and she clasped her hands together. “I’m so _happy_!” The teenager shouted, and a tiny maelstrom tossed around the papers on Asami’s suite desk. She immediately reddened, mortified at the lack of control, while Korra laughed, and Asami put a hand gently on the airbender’s small shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re happy, Jinora,” Asami moved down to hug her, and Korra’s heart welled to see them embrace so tenderly: this was her ‘family’ after all, and it was incredibly touching to see how well Asami integrated herself. “It really means a lot to me.”

“Ikki owes me five yuans.” A smug grin spread over her face. “And Meelo owes me ten. They both bet you two wouldn’t get together until after the coronation.”

“Jin, you bet on me?” Korra asked incredulously as Asami roared with unrelenting laughter, her face turning red as she slumped against Jinora’s small body, hooting.

“You’re an easy bet,” the small airbender supplied, helpfully. “You’re kinda predictable. I knew seeing Kuvira act that way around Asami would make you mad and you’d have to kiss her all romantically on a balcony or something.”

Korra and Asami exchanged raised brows. That was pretty much exactly what had happened. But Jinora’s face dropped when she said Kuvira’s name, and a serious look came into her eyes. “Speaking of Kuvira, I think I found someone willing to show me what her plan is, but he won’t talk unless the Avatar is there.” She raised her eyes hopefully to Korra. “Will you help me? I think he knows why the mecha tanks aren’t where they should be.”

“Mecha tanks?” Asami’s brow wrinkled. “But Kuvira said last night all of her available platoons were in the city barracks being prepped for Raiko to take control of them.”

Korra sighed. “There’s something going on with her. I wanted to to talk to you about it but…well, we didn’t really get into it yet. Jinora found a whole army of mecha tanks stationed way up in the hills, and it looks suspicious, plus Tenzin says that she hasn’t showed up at the palace for any of the meetings. We think Kuvira may not be prepping for the transition of power.”

Asami smacked a hand to her forehead. “So that’s why you were acting so weird around her! I thought you were just jealous she was flirting with me.”

Korra fidgeted. “Well….it was at least partially due to that, too.” _More like almost totally. But if it turns out Kuvira’s planning to cross us, at least all my bad behavior last night won’t be totally wrong. I’d hate to think I’d Avatar up on an innocent just because they were flirting with Sami before we got together._ “Anyway, Jinora, I’ll come with you. Let me just get dressed.”

“I’ll find Bolin and see if he can get me into the barracks. Maybe those mecha tanks aren’t as prepped as she said.” Asami’s lip curled with the excitement of a new Team Avatar adventure, and Korra couldn’t hold back the rush of love she had for this woman who could devise a plan and handle it on her own. “I wonder where he is, anyway. I didn’t see him at the feast, did you?”

“No,” Korra agreed. “I figured he was one of Kuvira’s top dogs now, so I thought he’d be there too, but I didn’t see him.” _And honestly I was too busy glowering at Kuvira to look, so hopefully Bo’s okay._

“None of the Beifongs were there, either.” Jinora pointed out. “Didn’t you guys see that Lin was looking for them? She and Tenzin got told they skipped the feast, but that doesn’t make sense. It’s _their_ gala building.”

Korra and Asami exchanged worried looks. Now something definitely doesn’t smell right. “Let’s get going, Jin, I want to get some intel on Kuvira and get back so we can formulate a plan. Tenzin and Lin need to know we have proof and not just hearsay.” She blushed as a realization hit her. “But, uh, my regular clothes are back in my room, so we should go there first.”

“I’ll stay here,” Asami said, fidgeting slightly. “I um…have some business contracts I need to appraise.” Shower, she mouthed at Korra, so much come.

Korra grinned wolfishly at her and then shook herself back from the heady world of their lovemaking. “Okay Jinora, I’ll meet you in the hallway in about a minute, I need to say goodbye to Asami real quick.”

“You mean _make out_.” Jinora supplied, and wrinkled her nose. “Don’t take too long.”

As the door clicked shut behind the young airbender, Korra swept Asami’s still-delectably bare body into her arms. The taller girl squealed a little as air slipped under her toes, until Korra let her slide back down. “I’ll miss you today,” she confided to Asami’s neck, kissing there gently over the dark marks she had made the night before. “I’ll be thinking about coming back to you, to this.”

  
Asami wrapped her hand in her hair and pulled her up for a kiss, tangling their mouths and emotions in one wild, breathless moment. “I’ll be thinking about the same thing.” She promised the Avatar, her eyes dark with love. “Just get it done and come back safe to me.”

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Korra boasted. “I’m more than a match for any metal bender.” Her eyes shot Asami a dominant, aggressive stare, asserting her claim. “Especially Kuvira.”

Asami let out a musical, tinkling laugh, and she playfully swatted her lover’s firm ass. “It’s a good thing you won’t need to fight her for my affections: they’re already yours. Go get ‘em, Avatar.”

“Kick ass, Miss Sato.” They smiled, lingering for one final moment, and then Korra sighed and released her grip, instantly missing the warmth of Asami in her arms. “I love you,” she told her, feeling the need suddenly to say it again.

As usual, when she said those words Asami’s eyes swelled a little and her smile grew. “Love you too,” she whispered back, and laid one final kiss on her lips. “Now get, I need to shower all of your come off of me.”

Korra shuddered and then straightened, forcing herself to move to the door. Asami blew her a kiss over her shoulder as she stepped into the bathroom, and Korra was struck by a sudden, uncomfortable thought. _Why do I feel like I won’t see her again? Must just be how we left things last time_ , she tried to reassure herself, but the feeling lingered, to the point at which she almost abandoned Jinora in the hallway to rush back into Asami’s room, feeling a knot rise in her throat.

 _Knock it off,_ she told herself, _you can’t be this clingy already,_ but the feeling continued, even as she dressed in the bathroom of her suite, pulling a simple Earth Kingdom outfit on and grabbing her glider before following Jinora into the hallway. Trying to distract herself, she turned to Jinora, brightening. “All right Jin, ready to take down Kuvira’s mecha secrets?”

“Yeah!”

Together, they kicked out their gliders and flew to the rendezvous point, as the day grew warm and solid with unsaid plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda love writing Jinora as the cheerleader for Asami and Korra's relationship.
> 
>  
> 
> For a view inside Korra's love struck head in this chapter, I recommend 'Pull Me Up' by KYKO: https://youtu.be/sB0Am0v2pRo
> 
> And yes, shit is about to get real. Stay tuned! ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So we've entered angst and violence city, folks, for at least a few more chapters. Kuvira's plan is about to enter endgame.
> 
> (Thanks so much for the encouragement and comments! I'm writing like a madwoman trying to get this story out)

In the shower, Asami’s aching muscles sang under the hot water. _Oh my, what a work out. I may have been taking in energy from the universe but I certainly still feel like I’ve been fucked all night._ She soaped herself up delicately, hissing as she passed the washcloth around her completely swollen nether regions. Even her breasts were sore, sporting bite marks on each nipple. Her belly was dappled with more marks, and her thighs looked positively spotted. And of course her neck looked like a total train wreck; she’d need to wear a scarf or her high-collared jacket today, and it probably wouldn’t be enough to stop Bolin from delightedly making fun of her for several hours, at least.

 _Bolin_. She hoped her friend was all right. Hopefully he and Opal had made up and he just skipped the feast: that would explain at least one Beifong’s disappearance. She couldn’t stop the worried little clench in her belly that it didn’t explain why Su, Baatar, and the others weren’t at the feast. Jinora was right; it was the Beifong’s building. And also Baatar Jr was supposed to be engaged to Kuvira, wasn’t he? She remembered this with a start. _Why was Kuvira so flirty last night then?_ This was all strange, and Asami didn’t like the uncomfortable gaps in available answers like ‘she was just being friendly’.

And there was another feeling that she didn’t like. A feeling like Korra might _not_ be seeing her again soon. But that was preposterous, surely, after everything they’d shared in the night and the morning, with their auras glowingly intertwined. Korra wouldn’t leave her again, wouldn’t change her mind and ask to be friends….right? The sick feeling seemed to disagree. She laid a hand over her lower belly, where so recently she had felt her aura explode from within herself and float alongside Korra’s. The feeling seemed to be centered there. _What’s wrong with me? Am I too hurt from the last time to accept this?_

 _I guess it remains to be seen._ The traitorous voice was back again, whispering snake-like into her mind. _Korra could change her mind and tell you this was all a mistake._

 _No_. She shook her head, refusing to let that thought sink in. She turned the shower off and stepped into the steam heat of the bathroom, stretching her sore spine with two hands to her lower back. She slipped a towel fluidly around her and looked to the mirror for a brief instant. There, in the steam, as if a lithe olive-skinned finger had traced the letters only seconds before, was the message: _I love you, have a good day!_ , surrounded by a lopsided heart.

 _How did she-? Oh right, water bending._ Asami smiled to herself at the thought of Korra doing such a complex bending move just to give her one last ‘I love you’ and her belly warmed. _Silly, sweet, Water Tribe romantic._

Toweling herself dry, she selected her favorite jacket with the Future Industries gear logo, black pants and a red silk blouse. As an afterthought, she pulled the electric glove out from her luggage and slid it on, setting it to charge. If anything happened while she and Bolin went to the barracks, she wanted to be ready. The feeling in her stomach seemed to aid her nerves. She was even more sure now that something was up here in Zaofu.

A sudden frantic knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. She crossed the room, and pulled the door wide, a smile starting on her face. “Korra? I thought you were-“

But it was a bloody, battered Bolin who greeted her, hushing her with a hand to her mouth, as he looked furtively around the hallway and backed her into the room, shutting the door behind them as quietly as he could, wincing at the audible click as the metal slid into place. As soon as the door was shut, he whirled on Asami, who was staring at him in open-mouthed shock and horror at his appearance. His fine Earth Kingdom uniform was ripped, with the metal badges prominently missing from his shoulders, an open tear in the front exposing his chest, and a slash across his cheek; to say nothing of his swollen and bruised black eye.

“Bolin, what _happened_ to you?! You look-“

“Like I just escaped from metal bender jail and fought a whole squadron on my way over here? Yeah, it’s ‘cause I just did.” He took her by the shoulders, scaring her with the severe urgency in his voice. “Asami, we have to get you out of here. I mean, we have to go _now_.”

“What are you talking about? Why were you in jail?” She felt her heart begin to race as Bolin moved quickly around the room, throwing her clothes back into her bag. “Bolin, _talk to me_!”

“Okay, but we _really_ need to get you out of here.” He took a rueful breath. “Asami, I’m so sorry but you’re gonna need to forgive me. I didn’t know. I hope you do, because I don’t know if Opal ever will… even though I just broke her and her brothers out of jail.” He took her hands at the confused look at her face and continued in a rush.

“It was a trap, Asami. Kuvira didn’t send me to Republic City to show Raiko ‘the pride of her forces’, she sent me to make sure _you_ came back to Zaofu. She’s gonna force you to marry her against your will so she can use the control of Republic City’s debts to leverage Raiko to support her claim to the Earth Kingdom. She’s been planning this for weeks, months even. She broke up with Baatar Jr last week while we were away, and that’s when the Beifongs suspected something was up. Su’s lawyers found a marriage contract with your name on it….Asami, it’s not good. If you sign that, even under duress, she has you for at least a year, and that’s plenty of time to force Raiko’s hand.”

“What?” She sat down hard on the bed. “I don’t…. _what_?!"

He knelt at her feet. “I know this is a lot, but you gotta get up and we have to get out of here. I don’t know how much time we have before Kuvira knows the Beifongs are escaped. They’re gonna do their best to clear our way but I had to go back for you; this is all my fault.” He hung his head and tears dropped to the floor. “Spirits, Asami, I am _so sorry_.”

“Bolin, I forgive you, you didn’t know. Please stop beating yourself up, it looks like the guards already did enough of that.” He shot her a desperate smile and she readjusted the glove down her wrist to the ‘ready’ position. “I’m ready, let's go. Leave the clothes, I can buy more.”

“We have to get Korra; there’s too many mecha tanks, I barely made it here and I had Wing and Wei covering me so they could go alert Tenzin and Lin. Where is she?”

Asami’s heart sank. “She’s with Jinora, supposedly a soldier wanted to defect and-“ She sighed heavily. “And I think that was a ruse to draw Korra away from the city. We’re on our own, Bo.”

He set his jaw in a firm line. “Then we’ve got to get down to the city gates. Opal and the others will meet us there. I just hope we don’t-“

He was interrupted by the horrible screeching wrench of the door being folded open with metal bending, falling to one side in an accordion shape. Kuvira stood there, in battle dress with her arms folded precisely behind her back, surrounded by a squadron of easily a dozen metal benders, all armed with their deadly whips and arm cannons. _Cannons I designed_ , Asami realized with a start, and it inflamed her fury. This woman used her technology and now she planned to use her body. _She’s about to find out that a Sato isn’t a toy._

Kuvira smiled and it was charming on the surface but roiling with nastiness underneath. “Hello, Asami.” She called, a mock-friendliness to her tone. “Leaving us so soon?”

“You _stay away from her_!” Bolin yelled, and from his pocket the lava rocks flew into the air, rotating faster and faster until they spun into a circle of molten stone. Asami’s glove crackled to life and she and Bolin adjusted their stances back-to-back. Adrenaline surged through her veins.

“Bolin, I’m disappointed in you.” Kuvira’s eyes slitted and she stepped back. “Take them,” she called carelessly. “But don’t damage her body, I have plans for our wedding night.”

A metal whip whizzed by Asami’s cheek as the first soldier engaged. She caught it with the glove and yanked, sending a shock through the whip to the hapless soldier on the other end as she used the momentum to toss him into his fellows. Bolin was sending lava into the whip of the second, melting it neatly into two pieces while a third lashed out with his long metal hook, aiming for Asami’s legs. She jumped, springing off of his back with a neat thud as he went down hard. Landing in a crouch, she shot her glove up and into the face of a metal bender while her foot swept out and caught another in the shin, dragging him down. Somehow, the fight began to spill out into the hallway, as Bolin drove forward with lava erupting in twin streams from his reaching hands to force the squadron back.

“Ha! Lava beats steel, losers!” He cried out triumphantly, and took Asami’s hand as they dove for the gap between a pile of exhausted, unconscious soldiers, running flat out down the hall without looking back. They took a turn and exploded into the gala main reception hall, where they ran into three massive mecha tanks.

“Oh no,” Bolin groaned desperately beside her, “we’re fucked.”

She spun on him, growling. “No, we’re not! Send your lava under those tanks, and then get the hell out of here!”

He shook his head angrily. “Asami NO, I’M NOT LEAV-“

“You need to get _Korra_!” She screamed back at him, shaking him by the shoulders. “You can’t beat all of these guards and neither can I, but Korra can. _GET KORRA_!”

He opened his mouth to protest and she practically bared her teeth at him. “Don’t make me tell you again! They want me alive, so you can stay and die, or you can go and get Korra and give me a chance!”

Taking one last anguished look at her, he kissed her cheek quickly, and then flung up a wall of molten lava just as the tanks approached, firing metal nets from their cannons. The nets melted with a hiss, and the armored legs began to sink into the lava, but the metal benders inside were quick to pull themselves out, and she dodged a whip as she saw Bolin streak madly for the entrance, making it past the guards.

 _Good_. She took a deep breath as she saw the three metal benders coming for her, electricity crackling through her palm, as behind her the remaining soldiers from the fight in the hall spilled out in a fan, all charging forward to where she stood alone. She was glad Bolin was out. She didn’t want to see him hurt, but she also knew the chances of him making it to Korra before the guards captured her were slim….and she had no intention of letting them take her alive to Kuvira’s whims. They would not be able to use her financial influence. She would fight, and they would be forced to kill her, one way or another.

 _I’m sorry Korra_ , she thought as a tear streaked down one cheek. _I don’t think I’ll see you again_.

Then they were on her. She flipped over the first, using his whip to smash into the face of the second, and had landed neatly by the time the third was flying at her, throwing metal daggers trying to pin her clothes to the ground. She dodged, spinning into a kick that caught him in the teeth, but the first was back again, smacking a whip into her legs. She went down, and the soldier slammed onto her, reaching for her throat, but she grabbed his first, sending the full force of the glove’s 10,000 volts through his neck. She used a kick in his chest to propel him backwards off of her with one motion as she smoothly rolled back into a standing position. The metal tip of a whip hit her in the stomach and she nearly went back down, but instead wrapped her hands around it and used the momentum to fling the owner into the air and back down onto a group of charging soldiers.

Suddenly, an agonizingly strong kick slammed into the back of her legs, and she crumpled to her knees, crying out in shock and pain. She reached blindly out with her glove, trying to hit her attacker before they disabled her further, but an iron grip wrenched her wrist around to behind her back, as she fell forward and Kuvira’s cruelly smiling face swam in her blurred vision.

“Hello, Asami.” Kuvira purred nastily, and the hand on her wrist tightened. “You’ve fought beautifully. Proved yourself worthy of marriage. But now it’s time for you to give up, unless you want to see me kill each and every one of your silly little friends, one by one, and I’ll save the Avatar for last.”

She spat blood into Kuvira’s face, feeling a dull sense of satisfaction to see the gobs of blood land on the Great Uniter’s cheek. “You’ll never have the chance.”

“Oh I think I will. But that will be long after I’ve had my fill of you. Marriage has its perks after all.” She chuckled and the sound made Asami’s blood run cold.

“I’ll never sign your fucking contract, and you’ll never have me.” She hissed, staring up into Kuvira’s steel eyes with defiance glittering in her jade ones. “You’ll have to kill me.”

“That can be arranged.” Kuvira grinned, and with one fluid motion she slammed the glove into the small of Asami’s back, activating it at full charge.

She heard herself scream, as if from very far away, and as her body jolted with distant pain, she could smell sizzling flesh and burning fabric, but then darkness took her and she thought no more.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains language that could be triggering if you have past PTSD or trauma associated with sexual abuse, although there is not actually a penetrative abuse scene. Kuvira just gets really creepy and gropey here. Poor Asami. 
> 
> Also this is a double update! Next chapter has a bit more levity, but still action-focused

Kuvira pressed the receiver again for her radio communicator. The technology was Future Industries newest model, and she knew it wasn’t malfunctioning when she only heard crackling on the other end. There’d been no contact with her agent since the initial rendezvous and the silent tone confirmation when they landed in the swamp. She grimaced; somehow her finest lieutenant had either been compromised or killed by a half-built Avatar and a teenage airbender, even armed with a gratuitous amount of spirit cannon ammo.

She turned to the bed of her suite, which had blood stains and burned fabric scraps scattered over its covers, and the prone form there. Asami was breathing weakly, but she was still breathing. Kuvira had sent for the water healers, but most of them had belonged to the Beifongs, so she would be forced to wait until she could kill or subdue most of them. She cursed her intransigence with the girl earlier: if she died before she could sign the contract, then all of her efforts were for naught. She’d just been so annoyed at the tenacity of her fight, and the spit on her face was just unpleasant; the girl had needed to be punished for that.

  
“Looks like your little lover has more fire than I thought.” She commented to dulled green eyes that stared hatefully at her. It irked her more than it should that the girl hadn’t fallen for her wooing instead of forcing her into this violent takeover, in more ways than one.

Asami was manacled by heavy steel to the bed, although that was more of a precaution than was really necessary, judging by the faint rise and fall of her chest and the glazed look to her face. She still followed Kuvira’s every move with those eyes, and Kuvira was growing to resent it. She thought about blindfolding her, but then Asami spoke up, her contralto voice raspy with pain.

“She’s coming for you.”

Kuvira chuckled. “For you, you mean. Let her come. She may have beaten one of your arm-mounted cannons but she won’t beat _all_ of them. And as you so lovingly reminded me last night, they are quite large.”

She stroked Asami’s face, relishing in the softness of her skin even as the pale beauty thrashed weakly with revulsion, angry tears dropping down her face. Tears. Now that was something Kuvira was used to seeing. Conquered enemies were easier to deal with than outright hatred and defiance. Kuvira was often brought to fury by defiance, and, as the Great Uniter, she preferred to be feared and respected rather than hated.

She smiled, and her hand slid lower. She would give the girl something to cry about. Her hand slipped to curve around the firm swell of a breast, so much more pert than her own, if not a little smaller. Asami let out a choking sob, and the sound encouraged Kuvira, making her aroused at the beautiful little thing’s trapped misery, like a tortured bird in a cage.

“I know you let the Avatar fuck you like a bitch in heat,” she told Asami’s tears, conversationally. “You’ll do the same for me, whether you want it or not. I don’t care if you cry. Whores often cry.”

Her fingers curled painfully around the flesh there and she dug in her nails. Asami rewarded her with a fresh flood of tears. She shoved her hand toward the girl’s crotch, intending to frighten her more, but before she could reach her destination she was interrupted by a knock on the door and the crackling of the intercom. “Commander?”

She growled, rolling off of her prized prey in one motion. She slammed her fist onto the intercom. “I _told you_ I was not to be interrupted until-“

“Commander,” the voice on the other end was nervous, but serious enough to cut her off. “The Beifongs have escaped the gates and are in the airfield, prepping for launch. And there have just been reports that the Avatar was sighted flying at full speed past one of the checkpoints near the swamp edge.”

_Damn and double damn._

From behind her a harsh laugh echoed until it gave way to coughs. She whirled the girl had the temerity to be smiling at her from her bruised mouth, blood trickling down her chin.

“Looks like you were right, Kuvira.” Asami choked out, her smile absolutely infuriating. “Korra _is_ coming for me. And _oh_ I would _hate_ to be you when she gets here.” She laughed again, and the mocking sound followed her as she went into the hallway to give her orders.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all who continue to comment and inspire me to keep up this breakneck pace! It's also been an interesting challenge to write action scenes, as I never envisaged this story series moving beyond a few chapters of smut. We're going places people! Let me know if you like/hate it!

The sunlight was warm on Korra’s back as she crouched on Oogie’s saddle, watching Kuvira’s lieutenant as he sat opposite Jinora on the front half of the bison. Despite the sunlight, the chirping birds, the lazy, pleasant ache to her muscles and the sparkling memories of a certain sable-haired vixen from the earlier morning dancing around her mind…she was _still_ feeling that contorted sense that something wasn’t right. Something felt wrong, and her senses were willing her to return to Zaofu, return to Asami. She had to constantly refocus her mind on the mission at hand. _Asami’s fine, she can take care of herself, remember? She wouldn’t appreciate you cutting your scouting short just so you can check up on her._

She focused her gaze on the metal bender, sitting with his cap pulled over his eyes on the saddle, as Jinora guided the bison to the location he’d specified: deep in Zaofu territory, on the edge of the Great Swamp. That was fishy also, since the mecha tanks faired poorly in the swamp water, but he’d specified this was the control center, hidden so it couldn’t be attacked. Other than that, and his stated desire to escape Kuvira’s forces, he hadn’t said two words to her or Jinora. But Jinora seemed to trust him, so that was fine, just as long as this control center actually existed. If this was a fool’s errand that had interrupted the pinnacle morning of her life, her wrath would send this metal bender so far into the swamp that he’d be eating possum-chicken for weeks. Being separated from Asami actually felt _painful_ , as if little sparks running along her aura were trying to tug her back, with magnetic force. Ridiculously, more than once she had found herself turning completely around to face the back of the bison (never a good idea with such…fragrant beasts) staring mournfully back in the direction of Zaofu. They needed to complete this mission soon, so she could get back into bed with her love and press against her once more.

“There.” The voice of the metal bender croaked out, as if he was very unused to speaking, and his finger pointed down into the spiraling swamp.

Jinora and Korra exchanged looks. This was looking worse and worse all the time: that swamp couldn’t possibly house a control center. But the mission was on, trap or no trap. She just hoped she could get Jinora to safety if she needed to take this one down. Oogie began the trip down, and she clenched her fists, readying herself.

But once they landed, the metal bender simply hopped off the bison and started into the swamp, obviously expecting Korra and Jinora to follow. Korra went first, moving the vines aside by water bending them, as Jinora concentrated on the spiritual energy, taking deep focusing breaths behind her. The swamp pulsed and breathed all around them, and Korra patted the vines companionably, remembering fondly her last experience here, where Toph had helped her remove the toxic mercury from her body and the airbender kids had brought her back to Republic City. These vines were all connected to the central system, and she respected its power. The metal bender had no such reservations, however, and was slashing his way through with brutal efficiency, using a blade that projected from his forearm. Her lip curled as she watched him make a hackjob of the spirit vines.

“Where’s the control center?” She asked. She’d had enough. They had come to a clearing beside a small stream, and the metal bender was determining where to go next, which gave her even less faith that this was a legitimate tip and not a trap.

The metal bender ignored her and turned to continue on his slashing path, but she flexed out with her connection to the vines and pulled him up by one leg, wrapping the vines around his body as he dangled. “I said,” she continued, a deadly note coming into her voice as Jinora entered the clearing, holding a ball of air defensively between her palms. “Where. Is. The. Control. Center?”

The metal bender twisted his neck to look at her with cold, emotionless grey eyes. “Too late,” he rasped. “Kuvira’s already got your little pet.”

Before she could fully process the rage this statement brought out in her body, Jinora was screaming: “ _Korra_! Look out!” And then she was ducking in instinctive grace as a deadly sharp metal dagger whisked past her face fast enough to slice a tendril of hair. She had a second to look up and caught the sight of a second dagger headed for Jinora. She shot out with a strong gust of air and knocked it harmlessly to the ground, but the metal bender had twisted free of the vines in her distraction and dropped soundlessly, rolling and ducking under the vines into the swamp.

She scanned the clearing desperately, trying to keep Jinora protectively shielded with her body. There was only silence, all around them but the Avatar knew they weren’t alone. The lieutenant had brought them here to kill them, she knew that by now: there was no other reason to drag them so far from Zaofu where they were vulnerable. She could feel Jinora’s heavy breathing, and cursed herself mentally for allowing the young airbender to be caught in this trap with her. _Should’ve forced her to stay in Zaofu. Tenzin will never forgive me._

A soft, hissing _ssshk_ and a dagger burst through the trees, headed straight for Jinora’s arrowed head. Together, they blocked it with air, but a second, and third came in quick succession, and the battle was joined in earnest, as Korra spun, ducking dozens of deadly scraps of metal as she tried to keep Jinora safe. The teenager was firing back, and her skill was strong, especially given her age (even during the chaos, the sight of Jinora’s expert bending made something in Korra swell with a weirdly grandfatherly pride, which she knew came from Aang). The little airbender sent a powerful whirlwind to lift a veil of vines, which allowed them a split second sight of the lieutenant, aiming at them with that shoulder-mounted arm cannon. Korra hadn’t seen those fire yet, but from what she knew of Future Industries tech, she knew it couldn’t be good. She rolled, throwing Jinora under her as a deafening boom cut through the swamp and a purple stream of light exploded through the clearing, burning a straight line past where they had stood only seconds before.

“What _was_ that?!” Jinora cried as the vines sizzled and burned all around them. “It’s _awful_ ; I can hear the spirits screaming!” She covered her head with her hands, looking terrified.

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s too powerful. Jinora, get back to Oogie, I’ll distract him.” She pushed the stunned girl slightly, trying to get her to run. “You need to get back to Zaofu and warn-“

The deafening boom sounded again, and Korra only had time to throw up an instinctive water shield around them, which quickly surrendered to the force of the purple light and sent them flying into the trees. “ _Jinora_!” She screamed, as branches scratched against her sides and she frantically searched for the teenager. “ _Jinora_!”

“ _Korra_!” She heard the cry, and burnt herself free of the vines, shooting forward with jets of fire from her feet just before the purple light shattered through the tree. Jinora was dangling from a vine, her limbs tangled and her eyes frantic as she looked below her. The lieutenant was there, aiming his deadly cannon directly up-

And then a different kind of boom echoed through the swamp, and a rock shelf the size of a small mountain hit the metal-bender in the chest, sending him flying into a tree, as mud swallowed his ankles and turned to stone, trapping him. He yelled, trying to fight his way free, as Toph Beifong’s wrinkled, hunched form stepped into the clearing.

“Toph!” Korra cried exuberantly, pulling Jinora free of the vines at last. Toph ignored her (or maybe not, it was hard to tell with her being so blind and cranky) and bent her ancient fingers, twisting the metal of the arm cannon until it crunched. A dagger flew by her face and she ignored that too, moving steadily forward firing rock after rock with slides of her sturdy calloused feet, knocking daggers aside until she got up close to the tree and sent a surging wall of mud up to slap the metal-bender’s hands away from his sides, instantly trapping him as the rock solidified.

“Idiot.” She muttered at his general direction as vines began creeping over the lieutant’s form, drawing him slowly up into the trees. “Don’t fire off a spirit cannon in the spirit swamp, it makes the vines _angry_. And you should never make the vines angry.”

The last they saw of him, he was slowly being swallowed into the hollow of a tree, making frantic, muffled noises into a vine wrapped around his mouth as his eyes bulged in the first emotion they’d seen on his face: terror. It didn’t seem like a nice way to go. Korra shuddered and covered Jinora’s eyes, but the young airbender removed her hand, staring dispassionately as the body of their attacker withdrew into the hollow. Korra recognized that look in her eyes: Jinora didn’t like being the target of attacks anymore than she did, and despite her peaceable Air Nation heritage, a little of Katara’s ocean-wild desire for vengeance lived within her.

Still, the teenager’s face brightened as she turned to run to Toph, hugging the old bender with force. “Auntie Toph, you saved us, thank you!” The Blind Bandit had given the airbender kids permission to call her that, back in their earlier encounter, but Korra strongly suspected if she tried the same she would meet a rock to the face. She grinned, brushing sticks off of her clothes, as the gruff old woman accepted Jinora’s hug stiffly and then patted her roughly on the back in what could be considered gentleness by Beifong standards.

“You really did save our asses,” she confirmed to Toph’s sightless, milky-white eyes. “Thank you.”

Toph sniffed. “Don’t mention it, twinkle toes.” _Twinkle toes? What the-?_ “I have to take care of my niece here since apparently the Avatar can’t manage one metal bender.”

Korra accepted the jibe without malice: she knew there was none intended, this was just how Toph talked. “He completely overwhelmed me. I don’t know what that weapon is, but it’s _massively_ strong and Zaofu has dozens of those things.”

“Well it’s a good thing my bony old butt was here. I’m on my way to Zaofu too; got a bad spirit vine vision. Someone’s captured my family. Don’t care much for Baatar and stuffy Junior, but the rest of the kids are worth something, and Su’s my daughter, damn it.”

“It has to be Kuvira!” Jinora interjected excitedly. “The Beifongs didn’t show up at the feast last night for our visit to discuss the power transition, and Kuvira’s pulled all the mecha tanks away from the city without telling anyone.” She explained to the earth bender, who cocked her head and nodded with brute understanding.

“It’s a coup.” She said simply, shrugging her thin shoulders. “Smart move. It’s what I’d do too. Only thing is, she’ll need some leverage on Republic City, otherwise the whole plan becomes open war, and you can’t control open war.”

A thought hit Korra like a knife to the chest. “That guy…the metal bender…he said something about Kuvira having Asami.”

“The heiress you pal around with?” Toph wrinkled her nose and nodded. “Yup, that would do it. Money buys a lot of power.”

Jinora spoke up as Korra’s mind was racing. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Asami controls her fortune. To get access to it, Kuvira would have to be- oh. Oh _no_.” She looked at Korra helplessly.

“What?” Korra looked desperately from airbender to earth bender, seeking answers. “What are you talking about?”

“C’mon dipstick, you can figure it out.” Toph grumbled. “When two people love each other very much…or, in this case, when one _crazy_ egomaniac wants to control someone else’s massive fortune-“

“They get married.” Korra finished, as a sickening confirmation rose up from her belly that this was the truth. _No. No, no, no._

“Yep.” Toph shrugged her shoulders. “It’s pretty evil, gotta give her that.”

“We have to get back to Zaofu.” Korra’s heart was slamming against her chest. _Asami, Asami, Asami, I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to you._ She felt herself begin to panic. “ _Now_.”

She grabbed ahold of both Toph and Jinora’s wrists, intending to bodily drag them back to the bison if necessary, but Toph widened her stance and threw her grip off easily. “Hold on, dummy,” she growled. “You kids may be fine with going off half-cocked into a damn war zone, but us old folks aren’t that stupid. We need to find out what’s going on there first.”

“We don’t have time!” She snarled back at the old woman. Toph may have been her past incarnation’s friend, but right now she was an obstacle preventing her from getting to the woman she loved, and Korra was willing to ignore past friendships. “A scouting trip could take days, and Asami may already be captured!”

“I didn’t say a damn thing about scouting.” Toph put her hands on her bony hips and grunted. “Are you going to keep kicking up a fuss or are you going to let me show you how to see her?”

Korra’s body slackened and she looked at the old woman hopefully. “You know how I can see Asami?”

“Well, that depends,” the ancient earth bender drawled, and Korra saw a sly, knowing smile slip across her wrinkled face. “Did you and her do the nasty Avatar freaky-deeky?”

Both Jinora and Korra shuddered viscerally. “Ugh, please don’t call it that,” she begged, unable to stop picturing horrible ancient person sex. “But if it’s important for you to know, _yes_. Asami and I just figured out our feelings. Are you talking about that weird aura-blending thing we did? Because that was beautiful and I think it means I’m really deep in love, but why would that help?”

Now it was Toph’s turn to shudder. “Yergh, Katara used to always want to tell me about her feelings too. What’s with you water benders and emotions? But yes, the aura nonsense you do with your chosen partner is a thing specific to the Avatar. It means you have a spiritual connection to her aura, and you can find it, _if,_ for example, you were in a super-conductor swamp filled with spirit vines.”

Now Korra caught on. “So you’re saying I can find Asami just as if she was connected to the vines, like I did before with Jinora and her siblings?”

“If you did the beast with two backs with her-“

“Please! Just call it sex!” Jinora pleaded, looking like she was going to vomit.

Toph ignored her, waving a hand absently. “Then you can find her by meditating in places of great spiritual energy, just as you would connect to the spirit world. I don’t know how you do that because Aang just got really quiet for a while whenever that happened; I get bored of people who aren’t moving or speaking. Doesn’t do much for the blind.”

Korra wasn’t listening, she was already scrambling onto the heavy roots of a tree, twisted with vines. She stroked the green, living tendrils with her hands as she searched for holds, speaking to them in her mind. _I’m so sorry I let you guys get blasted by that spirit gun thingy, but please help me find Asami and I’ll make sure Toph gets a whole bushel of slimy mushrooms. Please._

She sat down on the widest part of the root and crossed her legs, closing her eyes and setting her hands down in front of her on the vines, concentrating with all her might. She saw the veins of the living ecosystem light up under her touch once again, as it had done before, and pushed all of that seeking energy towards a red-golden light that she could picture in her mind as easily as breathing. The vines soared along the invisible connections binding all life together, even the life outside the swamp, and for a second she was almost overwhelmed with the beauty of the vast, intricate connective pathways, but then the red gold light filled her vision, and she saw her love at last, coming in little snippets, incomplete pictures with fragmented voices.

_Asami naked, looking at her mirror message and smiling, thinking that she was a silly romantic..._

_Bolin, in the doorframe, battered and looking desperate, Asami’s fear a dark blot in the golden glow that formed her body…_

_Shaking her shoulders ‘-have to go now’ and the glove crackling alive, sparks running up her wrist…_

_The door folding down, Kuvira saying ‘Take them’…_

_Asami, beautiful, blinding fast, laying waste to soldiers, Bolin whooping as they escaped, but then, with fear growing in her, the mecha tanks in the hall..._

_Bolin screaming ‘NO I WON’T’ and Asami shaking him back yelling ‘Get korra, GET KORRA’…_

_Asami, standing alone, facing down the metal benders that charged from all sides, a dramatic figure against the lightning sparks from her glove, thinking of Korra so sadly...._

_Asami, on her knees, spitting blood into Kuvira’s face...._

_And then, Asami’s green eyes wide with shock and devastating pain, her hair falling around her face as electricity crackled up from the base of her spine and her mouth opened and she **screamed** …._

_Korra!_

The vision ended with horrible, sinking blackness and that final cry of her name, and when Korra opened her eyes she was shaking and screaming, her eyes a mask of white.

“ _Asami_!” She roared, blind to anything else, as she took a lurching step forward. “ _Asami_!” She tumbled off of the root, falling helplessly towards the ground, but her Avatar state kicked in and pushed her upright with a ball of air. Toph was suddenly behind her, grabbing her wrist and bringing her down, and she blinked as blue returned to her eyes, but the agonizing memory was still there, and she could still smell Asami’s flesh sizzling with the impact, could still feel the scream in her bones. She barely remembered who Toph and Jinora were in that moment; only Asami filled her thoughts.

“Hang on,” Toph pulled her down and splashed mud on her face, cooling her until she was able to come halfway back to herself. She hissed at the cold and wiped the mud away with water bending.

“What did you see?” Toph’s voice was insistent, and part of her just wanted to explode upward from the vines with a fireball and take off for Zaofu in mid-air, leaving Toph and Jinora behind, but she forced herself to listen. Both Toph and Jinora’s families were in as much danger as Asami.

“Zaofu...surrounded by mecha tanks,” she gasped out. “Beifong family…. _aahhh_ ….fighting at the gates, but they’re overwhelmed. Bolin tried to help Asami escape but…nnngh…Kuvira caught them and _oh Toph, I think she may be dead_!” She half-screamed, half-sobbed as she gave in to the trauma and panic that had been threatening to overwhelm her ever since the fight with the metal bender. “I can’t feel her anymore! It’s just dark! _It’s dark_!”

Jinora stood up. “We have to get back there.” She put two fingers to her mouth and blew a sharp whistle, summoning Oogie. The bison groaned from deep in the swamp in answer, and a gust of air signaled his arrival, swooping down to splash into the swamp, filling the clearing with his shaggy frame. “C’mon Auntie, this is Oogie, he’s Appa’s first son.”

“I thought so, he smells related.” Toph grumpily accepted Jinora’s arm as she guided her onto the bison’s tail so he could raise it up for them to walk forward onto the saddle. Jinora looked back, but the clearing was now empty. Korra had hopped onto Oogie’s back as soon as he touched down, and grabbed her glider, flicking the wings out.

“Go,” she told Jinora and Toph, her voice rough with fear and anger. “Help your families, I have to get to Asami, and I’m faster than Oogie. I’ll meet you when we see the Beifongs.”

And with that, she leapt into the air, a gust of wind making Toph irritatedly swat at the waving wisps of her white hair. She exploded a blue flame behind her, only dimly aware that this was the largest fire bending effort she had ever accomplished, and used the momentum to streak across the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

 _Hang on, hang on, hang on._ She thought fiercely, seeking frantically for that red gold light along the hidden pathways that she still felt along the air but still finding only darkness. _Hang on, love, I’m coming. Don’t leave me just yet. I need you so much, I need you so so much…_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korra's about to kick some metal-bending ass.
> 
> Toph remains one of my favorite characters of any series, ever, and it was so fun to write her as a character. I hope I managed to get some of her voice across. She's just the best blindest old bat.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this took me all day, and was a pain to write. Action is not in my strongest skill set, but this scene required a lot of it, so I had to figure out a way to make it work. 
> 
> The order here is messed up, a bit, as it should be a Kuvira chapter, but I decided to make it a blend of Korra/Asami to get the mood tense and spread between two perspectives. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! As always, let me know what you think <3

Korra soared. She had never actually flown for so long before, although the glider had been Aang’s favorite method of travel. Using a periodic burst of fire from her feet, she could coast on the hot air for miles, going far faster than any airship. But she wasn’t enjoying it. She wasn’t feeling the wind through her hair or relishing in her power to take her far above the ground. She wasn’t even looking down, most of the time, but straight ahead. Zaheer had spoken about an airbender who left the ground entirely and could fly, but this was the opposite of feeling weightless, of emptying into the void. She had never felt heavier.

She was thinking one thought. _Faster_.

There was a sudden warm rush of red into her thoughts and she could see a golden trail light up before her. _Asami. Oh thank the spirits, she’s alive!_

 _Korra_? A pale red tendril appeared and she followed it, desperately trying to answer back. _I’m here, I’m coming. Hang on._

 _Korra_ …

The thought disappeared and the red with it, and instantly Korra ached with the loss, but she kicked forward again with flames, renewed. Asami was alive, but badly weakened, and Korra was sick to her stomach at the pain she sensed in that brief flash of red, the halting quality of Asami’s mental ‘voice’.

She needed to go _faster_.

Zaofu appeared, finally, on the edge of her vision, awash in flame. She coughed as the acrid smoke hit her lungs. It tasted like the burning of the spirit vines, and she knew the cannons would be firing at her as soon as she approached, so, taking in breath through her nose, she whirled her glider, hovering in mid air as she created a smoke cloud around her body, bending both fire and air. From the cover of her cloud she could see the Beifongs, taking heavy fire as they took cover on one side of the wrecked Future Industries ship. Bolin was there, and in terrifying fine form, refusing to hide behind the airship as he send massive waves of lava toward the mecha tanks that came in from the hills on all sides. Lin and Tenzin were on either side of him, keeping as much cannon-fire as possible from him as he concentrated, pushing his palms down to his knees and then up, making the crest of lava rise higher with each of his deep breaths. Despite his efforts, it looked grim, and Korra knew they would not last long.

Releasing her cover, she dove, just in time to avoid a purple stream of burning heat that shot past the space where her smoke cloud had been. The wave of energy buffeted her and she fought to keep course, landing down with the Beifongs and Ikki and Meelo crouched behind the airship.

“Korra!” Su had to yell over the deafening boom of the cannons: she was crouched over Baatar Jr, who had taken a serious head graze and was bleeding profusely. Her hands moved above his head as metal staples sewed into her son’s skin, wincing with his pained cries. “Thank the spirits!”

But the Avatar was already in motion, giving Wing, Wei, and Huan nods as she directed her efforts on the huge airship, metal bending with all three Beifong boys as they lifted a burning hunk of their ship and sent it crashing onto the wave of tanks. Baatar Sr, Su’s husband, directed them forward. “There’s cannons on their airships,” he yelled to Korra, pointing to the nearest one. “We have to commandeer one to get a chance.”

She nodded and forcibly pulled at the metal of their wrecked ship, making two massive handholds as she flung a strip of metal towards the airship Baatar had indicated, effectively providing a giant wall of cover. Ikki and Meelo stepped forward to drive the fire from its length with a combined blast of air, and then dashed toward the airship. “Go!” She yelled, waving the male Beifongs on as they sprinted into the ship after the airbenders.

Spinning into a kick, she knocked down a soldier who was trying to yank the ship’s tethering cable to the ground, and sent a blast of fire into the faces of two more who rushed her. A minute later, the whirring noise of the airship’s engines began, and then came the ear-splitting booms as Baatar began firing back at the cannons, hovering over where Su and Baatar Jr waited. Wing appeared on a metal ladder and swung a cable down to Su, who wrapped it around her eldest son and signaled them up. Her obligation to protect her child done, Su rejoined the fight, whipping cables from every available surface as she moved towards her sister and Tenzin. The airship moved on, clearing their path toward the gala building with repeated cannon fire.

Korra had already moved on to Bolin, appearing beside him in a rush of air. He jumped and nearly threw a lava rock at her head before recognizing her. “ _Korra_! Oh man, Korra this is _all my fault_ and I’m so sorry but Kuvira has Asami-“

She cut him off. “It’s okay, I know. Freaky spirit vines.” She said by way of explanation to his dropped jaw. “Where is Kuvira now?”

Bolin shot her a desperate glance, firing a series of metal disks into the crowd of soldiers. “We don’t know. I heard Asami scream and…”

Korra growled in frustration, searching the destroyed airship grounds with her eyes as she blasted fire from her hands all around them. “We have to move into the city, Asami’s in that building. I can feel her.” She pointed at the gala building shaped like a massive metal blossom.

“Korra, I would’ve _never_ left her.” Bolin gave her his full attention for one moment, ducking as a metal dagger whizzed over his ear. “She made me do it.”

“I know, Bo.” She spared him a smile, through the haze of smoke and char on her face. “She wasn’t about to let you go down. But now we have to go get her.”

Together, they stared up at the gala building, as Su, Lin, and Tenzin fought their way up to their sides. A simple nod between the group and they all understood the objective. Following the path that the Beifong's captured airship was clearing with the cannons, they pushed forward, striking out on all sides as a unit. Su grabbed a soldier with her whip and flung him into her knee, pushing him handily over as Lin covered her back, jabbing out with her blades of steel, a cold look on her scarred face as she protected her sister. Tenzin hovered above them, blasting jets of air to redirect projectiles and protecting them with a shield of hurricane Air surrounding the group as they moved in a tight bunched phalanx. Bolin was huffing with effort but he was still throwing and kicking huge chunks of molten stone at his adversaries while Korra lashed out with all four elements, her rage incandescent.

She looked up at the gala building and could almost feel Asami stirring. _I’m coming_ , she promised, and resumed her strikes.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
_Asami. I’m almost there. Hang on._

She opened her eyes to a blur, and blinked several times. The room was empty. She must’ve passed out shortly after Kuvira left, because she could hear commotion in the halls now, where they had been silent before. Lots of thudding feet and explosions. Someone was shouting ‘ _Fall back! Fall bac_ k!’ It all seemed very distant and unimportant.

 _Asami_. A white and blue thought tendril filled her mind, and a sudden rush of soothing, cooling ocean energy poured into her veins.

Korra. She remembered in a start where she was and hissed in pain as the jerking motion brought pain to her spine. _Ah, that hurts. I don’t know if I can walk. Have to try, though._ She tilted her head to look at the manacles that bound her to the bed. Kuvira hadn’t bothered to shackle her feet, just one wrist, with a heavy metal cuff that was attached by a chain to the bed post. _She must’ve thought I was really out. Spirits, I_ feel _really out. I better get this done quickly, before she comes back._

She tugged at the post experimentally. It was solid, but it rocked slightly, and that gave her hope. If she could loop her chain around it, she may be able to break it free of the anchors. Wincing and gasping with every movement, she slowly pulled herself up on one arm, drawing painfully into a sitting position. She had to take several tries to throw the chain over the post, inwardly cringing at her weakness. When it finally caught, she moaned with happiness, and yanked as hard as she could.

The spirits were with her, and the post snapped free, nearly throwing her to the floor with the momentum. She hefted the chunk of wood and looped her chain around it: it would do as a weapon for now. Drawing herself to her feet took several tries, and she was hopelessly wobbly, as if her legs didn’t remember they were supposed to work for her. She cried out softly as her knees buckled for the third time and she went sprawling across the floor. _Korra_ , she called out instinctively with her aura, seeking that reassuring blue and white pulse.

And it was there half a heartbeat later, wrapping around her like a blanket, and she sighed as it once again soothed her pain and reinvigorated her. Using the wood as an impromptu cane, she half-walked, half-dragged herself toward the door, just as an explosion rocked the building. She stumbled, and fell into chest of drawers, knocking the bottom one open. There, in the drawer, completely unlocked, was her electric glove. _You have got to be kidding me._ Kuvira’s arrogance stunned her. _She must’ve thought there was no way I was getting back up. I didn’t know if I was either._

The glove wouldn’t fit over her manacle on her dominant hand, so she had to use it on her other, which felt awkward, but she would’ve felt naked trying to escape without it. Speaking of naked…Kuvira had stripped the burned wreckage of her her blouse and jacket off of her, and the idea of being touched while she was unconscious by the hands that had so recently groped her made her feel ill. She was only her pants and a a lacy high-set bra, instead of a practical breast band, because she’d hoped to surprise Korra when the day was over. _Well, now I’m just going to surprise a bunch of metal benders_ , she thought grimly.

A familiar, terrifying voice echoed down the hallway. “-move the Sato girl now, I don’t care if she dies in the process. We’re being overrun. You men get down to the reserve tank and cover me: I’ll get the girl into the ship.”

Asami forced herself to move as quickly as she could, cursing the loud ‘ _chnk_ ’ her chain made against the wood as she flattened behind the door, waiting with a cold savagery building in her veins. She heard the soldiers with Kuvira depart, running off to fulfill her requests before she could punish them for not listening, and then she heard heavy boot steps approaching.

The door yanked open with a force. “Sorry to wake you, little pet, but-“ Kuvira’s smoothly confident tone was cut off in a bewildered snort, and Asami almost laughed, but waited for her chance. “Where did you-“

She took a second step into the room and Asami swung out with all her might, using the chain with its block of wood like a mace on a flail. Her blow smashed on target, thudding right between Kuvira’s ears with an immensely satisfying crack. Kuvira turned at the contact, screaming her fury as she realized who it was who was attacking her, and she reached for Asami, falling forward as blood spurted from a sizeable gash on her head. Asami whirled the wood on its chain and smashed down again, heartless, on the fingers that reached for her.

 _Not this time, bitch_. She thought with grim satisfaction. Kuvira howled, clutching her mangled hand to her chest, but she only had a second to gloat before Kuvira’s grimace turned into anger, and her eyes glittered with malice. Asami had time to think _Oh shit_ as a metal dagger sliced open the flesh of her upper arm, making her wince. She smashed down again with the wood hammer, missing Kuvira as she rolled, and the wood caught in the floor, throwing her off balance as she tumbled to her knees. She yanked it free just as Kuvira rushed her, but there was no time to swing, so she slammed the glove into Kuvira’s metal chest plate, electrifying her in a sudden spray of blue sparks that blackened and charred the metal. Kuvira’s heart and vital organs were relatively protected, but the sudden searing heat of her armor made her scream and she fell back, panting as blood flew from her face.

“How do _you_ like it?” She asked Kuvira, rolling on the ground in agony. She smashed down again with the wood hammer and caught her enemy in the back as she tried to force herself, sending her back to the floor with a yelp of pure pain. Kuvira lurched forward then and her body convulsed, but Asami swung again, slamming into the back of her knee and noting with satisfaction the scream that followed. Nothing in Asami had any mercy left. She thought perhaps she would enjoy beating Kuvira into a messy red pulp.

 _Asami_.

The call of Korra’s energy brought her back from her red-tinted, murderous haze in a gasping rush. She felt a wave of revulsion run through her at what she had almost done. Kuvira was still panting raggedly and trying to pull herself along, but Asami didn’t even see her anymore, didn’t see the dagger she was crawling for. There was blood dripping from her wooden weapon onto the floor beside Kuvira’s head. It would take one more swing to end her enemy for good, but she felt nauseous at the thought. Kuvira reached again, and a curl of metal flung itself from the edge of the dresser toward her face at the same time as the dagger slashed upwards. She was able to block it, but the scrap metal clamped down on her upper shoulder, wrenching her down. She screamed, and fought the urge to panic.

Instead, she took a deep breath and plunged forward, almost falling onto Kuvira with the glove outstretched, grabbing her by the back of the neck by sheer chance and sending the last remaining volts of the glove’s charge into her. It wasn’t nearly as much as when she had been hit herself, but the lucky placement did the trick: Kuvira’s eyes rolled up and her face turned ashen as she slumped back to the floor in a dead faint.

Asami dragged herself over the prone form of her captor, stumbling until she could lean against the doorframe and pull herself up once more. She knew a fight awaited her in the hallway, but she had no choice but to keep going. _Korra_ , She called out with her energy, seeking and feeling her not too far away….

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
_Korra_. Asami’s aura came through in a pain-tinged burst of bloody red, gold lacing the edges, and Korra renewed her efforts, throwing a metal bender down as she pummeled his fellow in the face with rocks. Bolin was behind her, and they were fighting their way through the reception hall, where she’d seen Asami go down with a glove to the back in her connective memory. The thought made her blood boil, and she flung a tank aside with the sheer force of her air bending, her eyes almost constantly tinged with white. The feel of Asami’s pain floating just outside her body was making her frantic, desperate to get to her, but this was a serious battle, far more serious than any they’d faced before and a dark part of Korra wondered if she’d be alive by the time they got there, or if _any_ of them would be.

“ _Bolin_!” She yelled, slamming a boulder up to block a series of deadly metal daggers as her friend collapsed on a knee, breathing hard. He looked up at her and his eyes were glassy. He was almost out of energy; he'd been fighting since before she joined the battle. She pulled him behind her as a second blast of shrapnel exploded near them, shielding them with a wall of air. Luckily, Su and Lin came charging up the steps at that moment, the sisters moving as a united front, defensively placing sheets of metal in front of the Avatar and Bolin. Tenzin came up behind, panting.

“The Beifongs are taking fire from two other ships, I need to get my children out of here.” He cast her a desperate glance, but she only nodded, and pushed the nearly-unconscious Bolin to him.

“Cover me,” she called to Su and Lin, and they moved with her creating a moving metal wall as she raced for the hallway across the great wide expanse of room. When she reached the door, she pulled the metal behind her like a steel curtain, sliding through a small gap and calling to the Beifong sisters over her shoulder; “Get Bolin and Tenzin out of here. I’ll deal with Kuvira.”

“ _Korra_!” Lin’s shout echoed up the stairwell after her, but she wasn’t listening, she’d exploded up the stairs at the first opportunity.

She rounded a corner so hard she nearly ran up the wall on an air scooter, and swung over two surprised guards, who each fired upwards with metal cables at the spot where she had been only moments before, and swung down with a fist exploding fire from her knuckles. She backflipped over them as they fell and surged up the hall, heart pounding.

“Asami?” She called, at the same time as her aura reached out.

“…Korra?” A quiet voice echoed down the hall. “Am I hearing you for real or-?”

“I’m real, I’m here!” Korra nearly catapulted herself around the corner and scanned the hall for Asami, looking desperately for the source of the sound. “You’re hearing me! Where are you?!" 

“Here.” Asami shot her pained smile from where she was half-slumped, half-leaned against the wall, near the door to Kuvira’s suite. Without thinking, Korra gave a groan of relief and rushed to her, pulling her into her arms.

“I could feel you calling me.” She confessed into Asami’s lips as she kissed her gently, aware of the taste of blood and the puffiness of bruising.

“I felt you, too.” Asami was shaking a bit in her arms and she pulled back, taking in her state for the first time.

Asami’s already-pale complexion was ghostly white, and her eyes were glazed, as she held a dripping gash on her arm with hand that was wrapped in a thick metal cuff. The end of that cuff attached to a chain, which was looped around a bed post that had blood and bits of hair smeared on the end. Her glove was on her other hand, fizzling and crackling and Korra could see the power source had overloaded. She almost didn’t register the fact that Asami was only wearing a bra and pants until she’d started to help her get up from the wall, and noticed the angry red burst spreading from her lover’s spine.

Several things connected at once. The lack of clothes, a bloodied bedpost, a manacled wrist. “Where’s Kuvira?” She asked gently, trying to cover the boiling rage she felt inside. _Because when I find her…_

Asami stiffened and Korra pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “She’s in the bedroom, I shocked her good.” A wavering smile tilted up to meet her face, but the eyes were still dull. “I don’t know if she’s alive but I think so.”

That was the only information Korra needed. They had to get out fast, before Kuvira potentially could recover. She didn’t wait, and slung Asami’s arm over her shoulder, cradling her to her chest as she stood with her love in her arms. Now she was at significant disadvantage in a bending fight, but it didn’t matter; she had to get Asami to the airship. Summoning her Avatar State in a hurry (it was much easier to access in her rage than she realized, and came on quickly), she propelled them forward, bending the air to push at her back.

The hall was a deserted tangle of steel and bodies by the time that she’d pushed the door open to allow her and Asami to stumble through. They took their time, Korra giving Asami a chance to rest every few feet, but since Asami refused to be carried any further, it was slow going.

“ _Avatar_!” A crazed shout from behind her and then a metal section of tank was flying towards her. She crunched it in midair with one hand, rounding on Kuvira, snarling as the white heat took her again and she heard the primal roar of a thousand voices. Asami pulled her shoulder down, forcing her to duck as a cable skittered across the metal where they had been. 

She heard Lin before she saw her. “Su! I have them in sight, start the ship!”

Then the police chief was alongside her, shooting a cable up to the airship that they could see through the ruined, smoking dome, but Kuvira lashed out and the cable detached, whipping back at Lin’s face. Korra blocked it, sending it snaking away back into the dark.

“C’mon!” She shouted and she and Lin each took hold of Asami. “We have to get to open ground!”

As they tumbled from the gala building, a familiar roaring greeted them. “ _Oogie_!” She cried and the bison was above them, thwacking an attacker back with his massive tail as he landed, groaning in battle fury. Jinora leapt from the saddle, shooting blasts of air at the entrance, knocking Kuvira back as she tried to follow them.

Toph joined the fray.

A wall of stone surged under the ground and slammed up, tossing Kuvira into the air, as spires shot into each and every window of the mecha tanks surrounding their position. The second wave sent Kuvira tumbling again, unable to stance up and produce a bending effort, as Toph stamped her feet impassively, sending shockwaves through the earth. Jinora helped Korra lift Asami onto the saddle, and the young airbender immediately began a healing air chant. Korra turned back to the battle, sprinting to the Beifongs. Lin joined her mother, and the two of them huffed air through their noses like bulls as they wrapped a massive sheet of metal around Kuvira, tightening it together.

“We have her!” Lin shouted, but just as she did, the sheet exploded, forcing her back, and Toph threw up a hunk of airship to protect her daughter. A piece of shrapnel exploded from the wreckage and hit Asami, slicing into the already-damaged upper flesh of her arm, and she cried out.

The sound pierced the air, and something inside of Korra snapped. Her eyes went fully white, and she began to rise in the air, surrounding herself with it. She wasn’t aware of anything except killing the creature that had hurt the woman she loved. There wasn’t kindness, or mercy, or spiritual balance in this Avatar. This was the part of herself that she had always feared the most, but even that fear was far away. There was nothing in her now but burning white, and it needed to be vented out. She opened her mouth and fire roared from it, as she lifted rocks into the air, and pulled the water from the nearby ornate pond to circle around her.

“Get going!” She heard Toph yell from below, as if the sound was muffled. “She’s gonna destroy the whole city!"

Lin attached herself to the airship and zipped into the sky, signaling for the others to grab Toph with their cables as the ship began to retreat. Jinora lifted the reins to Oogie and opened her mouth to yip yip-

  
But Asami was sliding off the tail of the bison, walking in a half-limp, half-stumble towards Korra’s gradually rising form. “ _Asami_!” Jinora shrieked. “Get back here! _Asami_! She’s dangerous like this! You don't know what she'll-”

Korra wasn’t noticing any of this anymore, wasn’t feeling or thinking. There was a boiling white dot in the universe and she was its center. She raised Kuvira’s body in the air, as the metal bender fought in panic, and began pulling the air from her body, unconsciously mimicking the way Zaheer had killed the Earth Queen. All around her, rumbling shook the ground and gouts of fire began to erupt from cracks in the earth as she prepared to bring the whole city down.

And then she felt Asami’s hand.

Even in her beaten, bleeding state, she had managed to get ahold of Korra, who was floating almost six feet off the ground, and her gentle touch tugged the Avatar back to earth like a magnet. The light in those green eyes was faded with pain, but they weren’t out. Asami wasn’t dead. If Korra killed Kuvira like this, however, then a part of Korra _would_ die. She understood this all as she blinked back to consciousness, stumbling and bringing Asami against herself. A split second later, Kuvira had recovered enough to hurl a handful of shrapnel at them, but it clattered harmlessly to the ground as Korra bounced up, using the accumulated air to drop them back in the saddle, and rolled, shielding Asami’s body with her own as she yelled: “Jinora, _go_!”

“Yip yip!” Jinora cried and the bison took off, taking a long stroke with his tail to gain leverage, which had the benefit of knocking Kuvira back down again. The bison rose smoothly, drawing level with the airship, and together they turned away from Zaofu’s smoking ruin, back towards Republic City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to work in a little Aang/Katara parallel there, hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> Asami gets to be her own heroine in this installment mostly because I felt she deserved it, but Korra will also get her chance. Battle of Republic City is coming, but that will be a far less intense chapter since I plan to slide some smut in before we get there. Gotta keep my inspiration going somehow, and god forbid it be through normal means. :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sweet, smutty little interlude. Asami and Korra need to reconnect after their trauma.

A week passed. Asami was isolated in the healing chambers for most of it, but Korra refused to leave her side, laying in the water with her as the glowing hands of the water healers passed over Asami’s injured spine. Each time they did, she would tighten her hold as Asami cried out softly in pain. The Avatar would sometimes have to leave the bath so the healers could work more closely, and when that happened, she would pace alongside the edge until she was allowed back in, and the healers would grumble that she made them feel trapped. Asami didn’t mind. She didn’t want Korra to go farther than a room away from her for the first several days after her experience.

But, as the pain gradually receded from her spine, and she could walk without aid, albeit slowly and with some difficulty, the Avatar’s worry had begun to grate on her. Korra had to be convinced into even letting her _try_ walking without a cane, but seeing the lift of an incredulous dark brow, she had relented. Still, she wasn’t attending any war room meetings or helping Future Industries prepare, and it wasn’t by choice: they had all ganged up on her. Korra, Mako, Bolin, and the Beifong sisters formed a united front with Tenzin, refusing her access.

“You need to rest,” Su would say, guiding her back into the bed she was gradually beginning to hate. “All of us are experienced war councilors,” she reassured. “We’ll help Korra prepare for Kuvira in any way we can, but you can help her most by staying here and healing.”

Asami bridled under being treated like a fragile thing. She’d been badly injured, sure, but she’d managed to fight off her attacker, and they knew Kuvira was weakened now, so she every day she felt the rising panic that while she healed, her captor did the same. The battle was coming, and she needed to be ready. She wasn’t going to sit through it, either. She just had to convince Korra of that, or she’d have to sneak off to Future Industries herself and that would undoubtably send the Avatar into a panic. Neither of them had really talked after they’d returned to the city, since much of it Asami was unconscious and for the rest she’d been healing. But now, with white bandages around her middle, she was able to get up and move around, instead of being restricted to the healing bed, and Korra was still treating her like she might explode if anyone talked too firmly around her. It was driving her crazy. When Korra did leave, it was hesitantly and with much reluctance, and she cut meetings short, which drove Asami’s sense of propriety up the wall. Asami was a businessman’s daughter: you _never_ cut a meeting short.

Not only that, but aside from gently cupping her breasts and thighs while they reclined in the healing water baths together, Korra hadn’t taken a single initiative to touch her. At first, it was understood and necessary, since her body simply couldn’t take anything other than abject tenderness, but as time grew longer and Asami began to feel more like herself, the lack of contact both frustrated and depressed her. She wondered often if things would ever be ‘okay’, again, as they had been in the night before Kuvira had captured her. She wondered if Korra would ever view her as a wanted object again, a desirable thing, instead of looking at her with mingled fear and sadness. Their aura connection seemed to have faded, as well, and she could no longer feel Korra in her mind as she did the day of the battle, but since Korra was never far from her anyway, she didn’t know if that was just the closeness or a lack of their connection that needed to be renewed.

So that was why, as Korra returned that night an hour early yet again, Asami decided to take business into her own hands. She needed to remind Korra of the girl who saved her on the Earth Kingdom ship, of the girl who put her glove on to go to _work_ , the girl she knew she still was inside. She even wanted to remind her lover of the time she’d put herself against the wall, controlling their encounter even as Korra thrust into her, and although that memory made her feel flushed and slightly guilty, she was tired of gentleness, of soft hands. She missed the passion and the intensity of their lovemaking, and the brilliant agony-ecstasy of the aura blending. If they didn’t find each other back in that new, beautiful place where they had just started, she knew they would always have distance between them, distance with Kuvira in the middle. She didn’t want that. _I don’t want to give that metal bitch anything else._

“Sami?” Korra’s tentative voice called up the stairs.

She huffed. _Damn it Korra, you know I’m here. You almost posted Naga on guard outside my room._ “Upstairs.” She called in response, instead of snapping as she wanted to.

As irritating as she found Korra’s newfound caution, she did understand it. She knew she’d been badly hurt, had almost died, and was close to being permanently paralyzed if Katara hadn’t flown in from the South Pole and spent the first few days treating her with her expertise. On the other hand, however, she also knew that the reason they’d been able to escape with so few relative injuries, is because she had damaged Kuvira so badly in her escape. When the metal bender had appeared in the ruin of the reception hall, shrieking for the Avatar and throwing objects wildly, she had been limping, half-dragging her wounded leg, and her vision was obstructed by the blood pouring from her head wound. If she hadn’t been partially incapacitated already, Asami heard Su worriedly complain to Lin one afternoon, they would’ve never made it out alive, Toph or no Toph, Avatar or no Avatar.

That thought gave her hope through all the darkest moments, in the night when she would scream and thrash; feeling the manacle still on her wrist, the cruel hand touching her and making her skin crawl. There was hope, because the piece of Asami that was still inside all of this scar tissue and pain, that piece had _helped_. And in all that was Asami, from the time she was a small child toddling after her mother in the garden, to the time when she took down her father in the name of helping Korra, to the countless times she’d put the comfort of others above herself, and to this, now…everything in Asami was about helping. If she wasn’t helpful, she wasn’t useful, and she would not stand by and be useless. It was time to show Korra that she couldn’t be bent, even by a metal bender. She was made of stronger steel.

Her thoughts interrupted in a hurry as she heard Korra pounding up the stairs. _She’s always in a hurry to check on me,_ she thought, _it’s time to make her hurry upstairs for a different reason._ She sloshed in the water nervously. _Oh Spirits I hope this actually works._

“Asami?” The door flew open in the bathroom, and Korra peered worryingly around, looking for her. “Asami, you aren’t in bed-“ She started to say, but then her eyes landed on the tub, the ring of candles, and the dark-haired woman reclining half in the water, legs seductively poised over the edge, breasts covered in a tantalizing-ly thin layer of jasmine-scented bubbles, and her words became a strangled cough.

“Hi baby,” Asami purred, arching her neck just a bit to toss out her hair in that way that she knew caught Korra’s eye, every time. She’d put on her favorite eyeshadow and done up her lips in that overly-sexual pout that had snagged the Avatar’s eye the first time they’d had sex. “Wanna help me in the bath?” Her tongue flicked over her lips and she smiled like a canary-cat that had caught itself.

“Y-y-y-you-“ Korra didn’t seem to be able to speak. Her mouth had dropped completely open, and a flush was rising on her bronze chest and cheeks. She swallowed. “You’re not in bed.” She said again, helplessly.

“Not yet,” Asami agreed, running a hand dangerously over the top of one creamy-pale breast, allowing just a hint of pink aereola to slip above the surface. “I was hoping you could help me work some things out first, and then you can take me there.”

“Are you…um…in pain?” Korra asked, and there was an adorable crackle to her voice. She was trying so hard to be good, to be respectful, and it was very cute... but right now, her attempts to be good left her pretty oblivious to the huge waving banner of ‘FUCK ME KORRA’ that Asami was essentially dangling in her face. She decided to ramp things up.

“Yeah, actually,” She faked a small wince and put a hand on her shoulder. “My back is still really sore and I could use your fingers…” She turned, lifting her legs back into the bath, and scooted forward, motioning for Korra to join her in the tub.

Korra was being respectful but she wasn’t dead: she nearly broke her leg hopping to get her boots off and then whipping her clothes over head so quickly that it messed up her hair on one side. Hissing slightly at the hot temperature (Asami liked her baths almost boiling, thanks to her Fire Nation blood) she slipped in behind her, and the solidity of her toned body cradled around the taller girl, who almost forgot her plan for a moment as she relaxed back, sighing into the protective circle of Korra’s arms, but not for long. Her eyes flew open for a second as she felt Korra’s hands tentatively slide around her hips, pulling her closer, but still with achingly soft tenderness. _This is working,_ she thought, _I can actually feel her trying to grind on my butt a little, and if I just…_

Sighing as if she was just settling herself in, she rolled her hips over Korra’s lap, pressing the swell of her ass into Korra’s mound. A deeply gratifying little whimper escaped from the Avatar, and Asami grinned. “Oh Korra,” she whispered against the straining cords of her lover’s neck. “You feel sooooo good behind me.”

The Avatar made a noise that sounded like ‘ _hrrrrk_ ’ and Asami increased the pressure further, mercilessly rolling her head back against Korra as she ‘settled in’ some more. She was aware that the sight of her hair and neck sensuously exposed drove Korra wild, and used this to her advantage, throwing in a little breathy moan for good measure. “Here,” she grabbed Korra’s fingers and guided them to her thigh, pressing them in a little. “You can work out that big knot for me.”

In reality, her thighs were only tense with the wanting to wrap around Korra, but this was war, war of a pleasurable attrition, and she was determined to win. To her credit, Korra began obediently trying to massage her thigh, but Asami shifted deliberately and forced her fingers to brush against her softest places, which in turn drew a sharp breath from the Avatar. “That’s it,” she encouraged, wrapping her arms backwards around Korra’s neck and drawing her earlobe into her mouth, sucking with the edge of her teeth. “Help me get released.”

“Um…” Korra appeared to be panting, ever-so-slightly, and it was like music to her ears. “I-“ But once again she was cut off as Asami snaked her hand down from Korra’s neck and drew it in a lazy circle around her breast, arching slightly as she exposed one stiffened nipple.

“Asami, what-oh _fuck_ -what are you doing? You’re still wounded and I don’t want to- _ohshitohshit_ ”

Asami had had enough of the worried note in Korra’s voice, and made it her business to murder it, effective as any assassin. She laced her fingers with Korra’s hand on her thigh and brought it up to cup between her legs, where her wet heat was obvious, even underwater, like a second, secret heated spring. At the same time, she scraped her teeth down Korra’s neck, and violently sucked at the join where it met her shoulder. Korra jerked and cried out, but Asami only tightened her hold.

“I may be wounded but I’m not _dead_ , and I _like_ it when you’re rough with me. I like it when you show me you want me. Korra, I _need_ you.” She murmured into her bite, hoping the Avatar could hear her, and then resumed her sucking.

“But-but…”Korra gasped. “What if I hurt you?”

“Then I’ll tell you to stop, and you can rub my back and do all the good girlfriend things you’ve been doing for a week.” Asami replied impatiently, and turned in Korra’s lap to sit sideways, keeping her arms around her neck. She tucked Korra’s hand jealously between her thighs, feeling the Avatar trying gallantly to withdraw it, which made her fiercely tighten down around it, which, in turn, made Korra give a tiny little groan. “Spirits, Korra, I don’t want to feel like a fragile thing anymore. I don’t want to keep feeling like she took away our beginning, because it was so good, and everything feels amazing when you touch me.”

Korra was silent for long moments, but the hand on her hip began to stroke her encouragingly. “I’ve been a good girlfriend?” She asked, after a stretched pause.

Asami laughed and the sound instantly made Korra press herself more firmly against her, pushing up against the weight on her lap. _Oh yes, there we go. She needs to see me happy._ “Yes,” she assured, stroking Korra’s face as glacier-blue eyes looked hopefully into hers. “You’ve been taking such good care of me, but now I need you to take care of me, and I need you to not hold back.”

Korra took a deep breath and her hand slid higher up Asami’s thigh. She parted her legs welcomingly, and moaned happily when Korra found her again under the water. “I want that too,” Korra told her, leaning against her forehead. “I just didn’t want to get carried away, because I might…remind you of it.”

“Baby,” She licked against Korra’s lip, teasing her with just the tip of her sweet little tongue. “I still want you to tie me up and be dominant with me, and I still want you to be soft and loving with me, and none of that reminds me of Kuvira.”

Korra stiffened at the mention of the metal bender’s name; they had tacitly not spoken of her as if ignoring her would make the threat cease to exist. Asami pushed through it, trapping Korra’s eyes into her own with a forest-green stare as deep as time. “Kuvira couldn’t be farther away from what you mean to me, and she can’t hurt me if I don’t stay hurt. I need you to be yourself, and me to be myself, so I can remember what that feels like.”

At last, understanding seemed to be slipping into the churning seas of those blue eyes. Korra pulled her more firmly against her lap, using the cupped hand between her legs, and the tight hold thrilled her. “Asami, I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.” She kissed Korra then, and their mouths locked like magnets. Korra moaned, and the sound had a desperate quality. She put her spare hand on the back of Asami’s neck and the assertive touch was just what she needed: she let out a moan of her own and gasped away from the kiss, exposing her neck for marking. Korra took the hint immediately and latched onto her pulse point, sucking with bruising force, and lashing the soft skin with her tongue. Asami’s hands traveled to Korra’s chest, reaching for the fullness there.

She loved Korra’s breasts, with their firm brown nipples and their heavy weight: she sometimes had to drive away wild urges to spread her slick wetness all over those hard points. To soothe herself, she rubbed her palm over the hardening bud on one side, and then sucked her fingers into her mouth. She spread her wet fingers over Korra’s nipples and then leaned down, pulling from Korra’s insistent mouth as she pursed her lips and blew cold air onto Korra’s chest. _You’re not the only one who can bend air_ , she thought smugly to herself.

“Wha-holy shit that feels good.” Korra breathed. Asami chuckled against her skin, sucking a nipple into her mouth with a wet pop. She sunk halfway down into the water, letting the water embrace her naked body, and braced herself on her arms as she worshipped her lover’s warm nipples, laving and stroking with her tongue, making sure to make slow bobs with her head and drawn-out eye contact to give Korra an extra lewd thrill. She knew _exactly_ what it looked like.

Korra piled her head up on her head for her so it wouldn’t get wet, and it was both a helpful gesture and an erotic one, as her hand tightened in the sable mass of silk waves. Her other hand pushed insistently down Asami’s body, reaching for her, but only finding teasing hints of skin as her lover arched and wiggled away from her. She wasn’t about to let Korra get to her target without some more torture. Besides, they had to get out of this bath for what she really had in mind.

She released Korra’s now-slightly-bruised nipple, and her eyes darkened with desire as she stared up Korra’s toned form to her eyes, almost entirely pupil. “We should get out of this bath,” she suggested. “I have…um…a surprise for you in the bedroom.”

“A surprise?” Korra’s hand in hair turned to stroking and her voice had a languid husk beginning in her throat. “I like you naked and soapy though; I thought that was the surprise.”

“Part one of the surprise.” She confirmed. “Part two….is waiting.”

“Well, we’d better not keep it waiting,” Korra kissed her again, and she felt the tiniest stings of that delicious electric rush that signaled her aura was straining in her skin. _There you are_ , she thought, relieved.

Korra half-lifted, half-carried her out of the tub, summoning their towels with a gust of wind that also handily extinguished the candles. She didn’t seem to want to let Asami down to towel herself, but a few nipping kisses convinced her, and Asami watched her eyes for the concern that she feared would break this moment. But even though she wobbled a bit on her unsteady legs, Korra’s eyes remained locked on hers, thick with desire. She slid the towel down her bare legs, bracing herself on the tub edge as Korra watched, hungrily, roughly drying herself. She stopped and pretended to consider. “Maybe I need to apply some lotion…”

“You’re smooth enough.” Korra growled and lifted her again, but this time she did not protest. She locked her legs around strong abdominal muscles and twined her arms around Korra’s neck as they kissed, moaned and half-stumbled through the door into the bedroom. This was more like it, this was the passion she was craving.

She almost forgot about her little ‘surprise’ until Korra had her on her back on the bed, kissing her way down her stomach. The flickering hints of Korra’s tongue she was getting around her navel were enough to make her reconsider her plan and let herself get taken this way first. _If I’m nice and wet from my orgasm, it’ll be easier for what I have in mind._ She reasoned, and gave in to her needy urges, practically pushing Korra down between her legs. Korra let out a husky laugh and bit her thigh, just enough to make her keen.

“Please…oh please…” she begged, shamelessly arching her hips up to meet Korra’s teasing mouth. The Avatar gave her a teasing breath across her clit, mimicking Asami’s earlier torment, but clearly she wasn’t as interested in delaying the pleasure. Her tongue swept out in broad strokes, soothing the aching burn inside of Asami’s clenching tightness, and she gushed more in response, shivering as Korra slipped her tongue inside her, probing. Red-gold fillled her chest, swelled in her belly, and pulsed out of her skin into Korra, who groaned to feel their connection renew, and waves of blue-white spilled over into Asami. 

Soon she was holding Korra’s head to her clit, almost sobbing with relief as the Avatar lashed it with her tongue. Korra knew exactly when to stop circling and begin the intense flickering that she now associated with sheer bliss, and she was quickly making Asami frantic with her racing need to come. She wailed as her climax rushed up on her and she began to buck. As usual, Korra refused to allow her to back away from any of the sensations, placing a hard hand on her lower belly to keep her still, and it was this possessive gesture that did it, undoing her in a flooding, pulsing rush that covered Korra’s moaning mouth and spilled onto her chest, unconsciously fulfilling Asami’s earlier wish.

Korra continued to groan and make strangled noises of pleasure into her weeping entrance as she lapped up the remainders of the pyroclastic flow, claiming all of Asami’s little shivers and shudders as her own with deep plunges of her tongue, which only brought more. Finally she managed to pull Korra up by her shoulders and kiss her, smearing her essence all over both of their faces, which started to inflame her all over again. Korra wasn’t finished with her yet, though, and her fingers played over the fine flat plane of her stomach to reach between Asami’s legs once more.

“Hang on,” she panted, tightening her thighs around Korra’s hand again, but this time to prevent her from moving higher. “There’s…um…” She couldn’t quite figure out how to phrase it, so she just said it. “There’s something in the drawer. Of the nightstand. Something for us, I mean.”

Korra cocked her head at her. “Something in the drawer for us?” She repeated, curiously.

“Well, I mean…” She bit her lip and the rest came out in a tumble. “It’s something more for me, but I hope that you’d enjoy it too…” She hissed out the rest of her breath nervously as Korra reached across her to open the drawer.

The fake cock dangled from the black leather straps as Korra held it aloft, staring at it with great interest, and then boldly looking back at Asami, appraising. She found herself blushing, and tried to fight it off, because her blush would center on her heated thighs and sex, a sure sign of her arousal at the sheer sight of the thing, but she was failing the more Korra looked at her like that. She squirmed under her gaze, taking several quick breaths.

“When did you find the time to buy this?” Korra asked, mild amusement in her voice. “I haven’t let you leave the mansion in a week.”

“I bought it before.” She cleared her throat. “Um. _After_. After we….had sex. Before we went to Zaofu."

“Oh.” Korra’s eyes were glittering and there was a curling smile on her lips. “So you were thinking of me, then?”

“I was trying _not_ to think of you, actually.” Asami huffed, irritated that her efforts at being seductive were turning into this embarrassing mess. “I just wanted to feel something…and my fingers weren’t enough.”

Korra almost dropped the cock on the bed as she let out a strained moan. Asami’s eyes lit up. _Oh good, she likes that idea._ Emboldened, the suggestive purr came back into her voice. “And I really wanted it too, but I couldn’t….I couldn’t quite get it _all_ the way in. I was hoping you could help me with that.”

“ _Haaaahhhh_ …” Korra let out a long low breath. “Hhhhow much did you get inside?” She was staring hungrily at Asami like she was made out of a particularly delectable fruit.

Asami made a small estimating gesture against the length of the shaft. “Not much. I think if you were to be wearing it, it’d be easier.”

“Oh fuck.” Korra’s eyes bulged. “Are you sure?” Despite her question, she was actually already buckling the straps around her hips, adjusting the fit. Asami laughed fluidly and raked her hands down Korra’s chest, down her athletic belly to where she was fumbling with the cock.

“I’m sure.” She assured Korra, and took hold of the toy. Korra’s eyes flicked down to the sight, and she groaned, rolling her hips into Asami’s hand. “There’s a part for you, too,” Asami explained. “Let me just…”

She slid her fingers past the cock to Korra’s opening, and was immeasurably pleased to see how wet making her come still made Korra. _At least that hasn’t changed_ , she thought proudly. The Avatar seemed to get most of her enjoyment from pleasuring Asami, and while she absolutely wasn’t complaining, she hoped the design of this toy would enable them both to go to new unexplored places. She slipped the wetness of Korra’s arousal around the small flared extension at the base of the cock, and gently guided it into Korra, whose muscles accepted it greedily. Her lover had more experience with being penetrated than she did, but she still was cautious for the first few minutes, pumping her hand on the shaft of the toy to provide a few slow strokes inside.

Korra’s lurching, hoarse moan assured her that she hadn’t made the wrong choice. She lunged her hips into Asami’s hand, groaning with appreciation when the small hand stroked towards the base and pushed the toy deeper inside her. “Fuccckkk, Sami…..feels so good….I want to be inside you.”

She took a deep breath. _Now or never, Sato._ The toy was quite impressive in both girth and length, but she wanted to take it, even if it hurt a little. “There’s lubricant in the drawer,” she offered shyly, feeling insanely over prepared for what was, essentially, an act of passion.

Korra didn’t seem to mind her prep work at all, and if anything, seemed far too appreciative. She grabbed the small bottle from the nightstand and began to work the slick oil over the head of her cock, letting out a deep groan as she did so, and the sight had a similar effect on Asami, who shuddered and let her legs fall apart. Her pink puffy folds, dripping with the recent evidence of her orgasm, seemed to draw Korra’s gaze like a laser, and she applied more of the oil to her fingers, soothing around the trembling, clenching little hole and sliding inside.

Asami cried out, unable to stop herself from arching greedily for more. Korra’s coated fingers slipped easily inside of her and she was only vaguely aware that she had taken three, right away, so strong was her need. She tilted her hips and opened her legs at the knees, offering more of herself to the sensation of being filled, being fucked...but let out a half-whine as the comfortable stretch of Korra’s fingers withdrew.

“Ready baby?” Korra’s voice had a heavy rumble to it, as if she could barely contain herself. She was rubbing the tip of the head against her entrance, and Asami whined again, responding against the pressure with a deeper arch of her back, but several breathless seconds passed before she realized Korra was waiting patiently for a verbal response.

“Yes,” she gasped out. “Put it in, please, please Korra- _ahh_!” The cry of her lover’s name punctuated with a sharp hiss as the blunted head began to move forward, stretching her. The pressure became both unbearable and not quite enough all at the same time, and she rocked her hips into it, letting out a sudden high-pitched moan when the tip sunk all the way in and the head pushed past her grasping muscles. Korra stilled, allowing her to adjust as the slight pain gave way to pleasure, and her fluttering insides pulsed around the intruder.

Soon enough, though, she was ready for more. She started clawing at Korra’s back, insistently rolling her hips up to meet hers, and Korra gritted her teeth, refusing to let her set the pace, despite her efforts. She pushed forward slowly, inch by inch, until their pelvises locked and she was buried deep inside, deeper than Asami had ever felt anything. It felt like Korra was lodged up under heart, pressing against the cage of her ribs. Korra let her adjust again, and didn’t let up her agonizingly slow thrusts, only withdrawing a scant inch or two at a time before rolling back in, building the tension.

“Korra,” she panted, arching again and again. “Fuck me, just _fuck me baby_ …!”

The Avatar didn’t need to be told twice. Her hips snapped forward and she began a quick, short rhythm, pummeling against Asami’s swollen walls. She wailed and clutched Korra, distantly aware she was digging her nails into her back, but another, far more insistent urge had her spreading her legs wider, ever wider, opening to the Avatar’s pumping thrusts. She hooked one leg over Korra’s hip, and her lover grabbed it, securing her hold as she gained access to a deeper angle that made Asami almost scream. The pressure was intense, the stretching almost unbearable, but the overwhelming pleasure swamped her senses. One of her hands dropped to the bed, searching for purchase as Korra rocked their bodies together, drawing her into an oblivion that she welcomed.

Unfurling in her belly, she felt her orgasm building, but something was holding her back. Korra still maintained a controlled speed, not giving in to the harsh pace that both of them wanted. She tried to search her eyes, but Korra had buried her face in her neck and was grunting with effort, sounding pained. _She’s holding back._

“Ohhh… _fuhhh_ ….ffffuck Korra, let it go, let go!” She urged, slamming her lower body up to take more of the heat within her, knowing this would make the toy inside of Korra jerk, and it had the desired effect. Korra’s head shot up with sharp need and their eyes met. She slid her hand up from Korra’s sweat-glazed back up to the back of her neck and drew her in for a kiss. “Let go baby, come in me, I want to feel you come in me, let go baby, _let go_ …”

Her words became a chant as Korra stiffened and began pounding her into the mattress, released from her concern and able to concentrate on her orgasm. This had a similar effect inside of Asami and she felt herself flood around the base of the cock as she was dragged up a mountain of sensations, teetering on a terrible, wonderful, delicious precipice. Their auras were fully joined once more, her red gold twining into Korra's white-blue, and the feeling was almost as intense as orgasm, but it only drew her ever closer. She huffed for air, grasping the sheets with her reaching, raking hand as her other kept guiding Korra into her by the back of her neck. Suddenly, the intensity reached a fever pitch, and she looked down at where they were joined. Her aching clit was just brushing against the stiff leather with each stroke and the blood started to pound in her ears. Sweat dripped from Korra onto her, and she absorbed this baptism, shaking underneath her as Korra took her mouth as brutally as she was taking her pussy. 

She screamed the first wave into Korra’s mouth, bucking wildly as her contractions pulled Korra deeper, and the Avatar moaned back when she bottomed out. Asami tore her mouth away, gasping for air, as Korra’s speed inside her became blinding, pulling her into her climax like a black hole. She called Korra’s name again and again as she convulsed, and still she was not done. Korra kept fucking her right through it, making animalistic noises, clearly no longer worried at all about treating Asami like a fragile bird. With a final, percussive thrust, Korra’s head snapped back and her hips surged forward, and she came with a series of jerks that brought another rushing, dizzying peak to Asami who wailed like a broken toy below her.

They rested, breathing heavy and hearts racing. Korra made to withdraw but Asami made a disapproving noise, so they stayed engaged. The fullness inside of her helped the lingering clenching pulses of aftershocks easier to bear, but gradually they eased, and she dropped her leg, allowing Korra to slip out and disentangle herself from the straps, sighing heavily.

“Spirits, Asami…” Korra let out a contented groan and rolled onto her back, pulling Asami’s limp body onto her. “I don’t think I’ve _ever_ come that hard.”

“Me either.” She let out a shaky laugh on Korra’s chest and raised her head, giving her lover a long slow kiss. “Thank you for doing that for me.”

“For you?” Korra’s brow arched. “You’ve got a funny idea about altruism, Miss Sato. That was definitely for me, too.”

“I’m glad.” Her sleepy smile was interrupted by a yawn, and Korra’s face softened further, kissing her drooping eyelids.

“Sleep.” Korra encouraged, and she did.

  
The next morning, after Korra had fed her an exuberant breakfast that left a pile of dishes behind, she was sitting still obediently as Korra replaced her bandages, stripped to the waist while the white strips of gauze were wrapped around her lower midsection. A sudden commotion made them both lift their heads, and Lin Beifong entered the mansion’s kitchen.

“Lin!” Asami shrieked and covered her chest with her hands as Korra stood protectively in front of her. “What are you doing in my kitchen?”

The police chief briefly cast a look at Korra that was clearly intended to be approval, and then cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to bother you both, but there’s something you need to see, right away. Where’s the highest place in this mansion?”

Her serious tone made Asami pause. “Top floor balcony. Why?”

“Let’s go and you’ll find out.”

Korra found her red silk robe and she pulled it around her shoulders, leading the way up the grand staircase. She opened the door to the balcony and walked out, feeling the morning chill stiffen her nipples and pimple her skin with goose flesh. “All right, Lin, what’s so important-“ Korra began, but Beifong’s pointing finger cut her off.

There, silhouetted against the sky, was a mecha colossus, moving steadily toward Republic City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're coming to the end! Almost at the battle for Republic City, and then I may do a smutty Spirit World epilogue, but the story is coming to its natural climax (pun intended). Suggestions and ideas are always welcome. <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it, the final chapter. At least until the epilogue. 
> 
> I initially posted a much more rough version of this chapter a few days back, but I was unhappy with it and it definitely wasn't worthy of the attentive and encouraging readers who've been leaving comments. It took me a bit to get what I needed with this chapter, but all in all, I feel this is a much better ending. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

Republic City was a charred, smoking ruin. Asami could see almost everything flattened for miles around Future Industries tower. The mansion had been evacuated of all staff; she’d sent them into the tunnels with Wu as soon as the word came out that Kuvira was attacking. Some of the Future Industries employees tried to insist on staying behind with their CEO, but she made them leave, as well, hardening her heart to their concerns for her, however justified. She already had enough lives at risk for her sake.

They had been fighting all night, and the team was exhausted. She crossed from the window to where Korra sat, head in hands. They’d just given it their last-ditch effort, and still, the metal monster advanced. The mecha tank platoons stood immobile, deactivated by the surge of Varrick’s electronic pulse. But, from Future Industries, the gathered team watched morosely as the colossus remained active.

“Varrick, how come your electro-pulse-thingy shut down the small mecha-suits but not the big one?” Bolin asked, disconsolately.

“Because it’s powered by spirit vine energy.” Baatar Jr had been up all night trying to help them find a way to take down his ex-fiancée as well as his creation: he looked drained and half-dead. “I’m sorry, I wish I could help you, but it’s unstoppable.”

“It’s not.”

Asami turned to hear the first voice she remembered, the voice of her father. He stood in the door way with Lin, still in his simple prison clothes, but every inch the regal Sato patriarch he still was. He looked thin, and haggard since the last time she’d visited, but he was holding himself with pride. Lin had a set of handcuffs in one hand, and didn’t looked overly pleased.

“Dad?” Asami looked in askance at Lin, who only jerked her head at Korra as if to say ‘this was her idea’. She turned to her lover, questioning. “What is he doing here?”

“I had Lin break him out of jail,” she explained, giving Asami a small ‘hope-this-okay’ smile. “I figured he could help. We could use all the Sato geniuses we can get right now.”

 _You have no idea how much I love you_. Asami thought, but she just took Korra’s hand and squeezed it. Now was not the time for overt sentimentality, it was the time for strategy.

“And if the prison’s still standing when all of this is over, he can go right back in.” Lin grumbled.

Hiroshi didn’t look uncomfortable with the idea, to his credit. “I know what you must all think of me, and I understand that. But Republic City is my home, and I would die before I see her ruined at the hands of these fanatics.”

Asami bridled. It was one thing for her to see him apologize in jail, but entirely another to try to process his words while he stood free. “You weren’t overly concerned with fanatics before,” she pointed out, acidly. “When you planned to let Amon take the city.”

Nearly everyone in the assembled group winced at the viciousness of her tone, but neither Sato broke stance or their stare. Green eyes locked on either side of the room. Asami was aware that Korra had stepped behind her, and she felt the hand on her shoulder. Defiantly, looking back at her father, she grabbed Korra’s hand and squeezed it. Hiroshi didn’t react, but he sighed and his shoulders slumped. “My daughter, I will never be able to take back the pain I have caused you, and I know that. All I ask is a chance to aid your cause.”

  
Asami softened, but only slightly. She laced her fingers with Korra’s, giving her father a clear, defiant raise of the chin. _I’m with her now_ , she said, silently, with her body, _and if you try to hurt her, you’ll get another painful shock_. Out loud, she said: “Then let’s get started.”

The plan was laid out. They would need to convert the welding torches on the hummingbird suits to plasma saws, but if they were successful, they could cut a hole into the metal giant and allow for access inside, like a virus attacking the body, as her father had put it. The hummingbird suits would be able to land on hard-to-access points on the giant metal monster, and the plasma saws would cut into the platinum to allow access inside.

“Like a metal mosquito!” She exclaimed, and shared a quick, furtive smile with her father. They hadn’t worked together like this in a long time, and despite her anger, it felt good to have their dynamic back.

Varrick put an immediate kibosh on her happy thoughts, as he was so wont to do. “You know what I do to mosquitos that land on me? I _squash_ ‘em!” He illustrated his point dramatically.

“No one’s going to squash Asami on my watch.” Korra squeezed Asami’s hand and lifted it to her lips, just grazing her knuckles. The Avatar seemed to suddenly remember that Hiroshi was watching, however, and shot him a quick glance, flustered.

“Uhm, that is, we’ll have to try and attack in a swarm to keep you guys safe in the hummingbird suits. It looks like they’re our only hope.” She shot one last look at Asami. _Be safe._ Those eyes said. _I need you safe._

Hiroshi seemed to absorb this quietly. She had never seen her father so contemplative, and it unnerved her. The group separated, each team parting for their respective goals. She wanted to kiss Korra, but they were still so new with everything being public that they hugged instead, too quickly for her tastes. Hiroshi watched, and his face was a mask. As they trooped into her workshop, she felt his eyes on her, but he didn’t seem willing to speak just yet. She set Varrick and Zhu Li to work with their own conversions, and helped her father, bending down beside him to offer a wrench.

“Dad, I’m…umm…I’m sorry I got so angry with you earlier. It means a lot that you’re here, helping.” She didn’t know what else to say. There was so much, so many other words. She cleared her throat. “Do you, um, did you like my office?” _That I had to rebuild after you destroyed our name and left me vulnerable to Varrick_ , she finished in her head, and cringed slightly.

Hiroshi wrapped a hand around the proffered wrench, and used the other to pull her into a one-armed hug, enfolding her in his familiar scent: old tobacco, hair powder, and workshop grease. She resisted stiffly for a moment, but ultimately she gave in and inhaled, feeling small again. “I love it. The whole tower is wonderful. You’ve done so well, and all on your own, my little fire flower.”

Her eyes welled with tears and she nodded, unable to say anything more, pulling away to dab at her eyes with a mostly-clean cloth. Hiroshi continued. “And I am so proud of you for helping the Avatar.” He hesitated and then clasped her hand firmly once again. “She…she seems like a fine young woman. I know she can take care of you.”

Asami was shaken, and her face must’ve reflected it. She stood stock still, unable to fully process what he had said, grease cloth half-raised to her face. Her father was an old Fire Nation traditionalist, and the Fire Nation had criminalized homosexual relations for over a hundred years. Republic City may have had looser morals, but it was something her father had often criticized in the days before he had been imprisoned. Not only that, but the Avatar was clearly also a bender, and that meant a fire bender as well as everything else. This was so beyond anything she had expected him to say.

“I know it is not conventional, and I know that I have been against such things in the past.” Hiroshi seemed to be seeing into her deepest thoughts. “But if there is one thing being in prison without you has taught me, it is this: whatever makes my daughter happy is the right thing for her. I may have pictured your life differently; married to a handsome inventor with many children, but partnered to the Avatar, helping her keep balance to the world….” He chuckled, and the sound was happy, if not without a note of regret and pain. “What could be a more fitting fate for my daughter, who helped her own father find balance?”

Asami was overcome. She dropped the cloth and threw her arms around him, and, after a moment, he warmly wrapped her up. “I-I love you so much. Thank you for understanding.”

“Hey, are you two gonna get to work now or can me and Zhu Li go make out?” Varrick called from across the room, holding an exuberant Zhu Li on one hip. “We just got engaged!”

Asami laughed. Maybe today would be a good day after all.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Korra heard tinkling laughter from the workshop below and her heart longed to go down there, to embrace Asami, even if her father was watching, and hear that laugh against her skin one more time. There was so much at stake today, so many lives depending on her, and all she could think of was never letting Kuvira touch one black tendril of hair on this one particular woman’s head. She had to shake herself free of the melancholy to re-engage into what Tenzin was saying.

“-vine energy. It’s a dangerous game to play, but Kuvira seems willing to make the gambit, and if she’s willing to play with spiritual fire, so to speak, we don’t know what she is capable of.” The airbending master sighed, his hands on his head. “I don’t know if she’ll be willing to stop even if we defeat the colossus. It’ll take everything we have to subdue her for prison.”

“And then there’s always the possibility she could escape.” Lin added, reminding them all. “I for one would be absolutely fine if I knew there wasn’t another possible Red Lotus candidate hanging out in jail, waiting for the opportunity to strike.”

“Then Korra has to kill her,” Mako said, but he was looking at Korra, his large amber eyes focused pleadingly on his ex-lover, knowing this was an impossible task. “I know it’s not easy to talk about, but this may be the only way _everyone_ will be safe.”

Korra nodded to him grimly: she knew what was at stake here, and what Mako meant by ‘everyone’. _Asami_ , he was saying, _she’ll go for Asami first, to make you suffer. You know she will._ The two shared a quiet, dark look. _I know_ , she told him back with her eyes, _and I won’t let that happen_. He nodded back, his hands folded across his chest. Whatever feelings they had once had for each other had turned over the years into a friendship that had been forged in fire, and she knew he would defend her right to do whatever she needed, regardless of what that choice would be.

“Can she even do that?” Bolin’s question made them all turn, and he winced under the weight of their eyes. “I mean, I know she can, but is it okay for the Avatar to kill someone?”

“It’s debatable, but if the sake of the world is at stake, several Avatars in the past have made that judgement call, including Avatar Kyoshi.” Tenzin rubbed the bridge of his nose. “My father was reluctant to do it, but he had strong beliefs on the value of life due to his Air Nation upbringing. Ultimately, he believed, as all Avatars do, that one life was sometimes enough to sway the balance for millions, but if there was another way, he would take it, even if it meant his own life.” He sighed heavily again.

“Could I take her bending away?” Korra’s question made the eyes of the group all shift back over to her, like a prolonged game of air tennis. “I’ve never done it before….but could I?”

“You might be able to bend her energy, but it is not without great personal cost: Aang almost lost himself when he tried with Fire Lord Ozai.”

Korra considered this. “If I have to, if she won’t give up. I’ll try.” She took a breath. “And if that doesn’t work, I’ll take her out.” _I’ll never let you touch Asami,_ she silently promised Kuvira. _You’ll die first_. The thought made her swell with anxiety, and that only made her more aware of the need to hold her lover in her arms, and kiss her until the fear went away and all that remained was their connection, the warmth. In that instant she needed to grab hold of the only thing in her life that she truly knew was real.

She took a step back from the room, giving everyone a considerate smile. “I think I need to go meditate for a bit, but I’ll be back before we need to re-group. Thank you, everyone, for your words.”

There were murmurs of appreciation and support, but she hardly heard them. She left the room and descended the stairs to the workshop. Her heart caught in her chest when she saw Asami, smiling as she sat on a scaffolding bench with her father, the two of them clearly having worked something out as they attached the saw to the hummingbird’s arm, each slightly sweaty and grease-covered. Asami caught sight of her standing in the doorway, and she excused herself quickly, climbing down a ladder to cross to Korra.

“Is everything all right?” She asked, worriedly. “Is it time?”

“No, everything’s fine.” Korra took her hands and guided her into the dark of the hall. “I just…I need to be with you for a moment.” She pressed a kiss to Asami’s forehead, loving the smell of oil and dirt on her. ‘I just need to feel you…because we’re about to be in danger again…and I can’t…”

A tear rolled down her face, and Asami brushed it aside with her gloved hand. Understanding had filled her eyes, and there was a low heat there, as well, a simmering flame. “Come on,” she said, and tugged Korra further down the hall to the second set of stairs. “I have a bedroom here for late nights at the shop. It’s soundproof so I won’t hear the crew in the morning.”

Korra lingered, looking hesitantly back at the workshop. “But your dad…?”

A smile came to the smudged face, and now it was Asami’s turn to tear up. “He knows. About us. And he’s okay with it, he trusts you to take care of me. I think he’ll understand.” She cupped Korra’s face and drew her in for a kiss that took the wind from Korra’s half-hearted attempt at decency. “Come on, we don’t have long, but I want to feel you too.”

  
They hurried down the stairs to the bedroom, no more talking needed. When the door was closed, Korra could see it was simple, only housing a bed and a small desk, but the bed was all she needed. She backed Asami up until her knees hit the mattress, and started undressing her, kissing each piece of skin as it was revealed, pausing only to pull off her own clothes and receive kisses in turn. Asami only paused to clean her face, briefly with the underside of her shirt, and then beckoned Korra on top of her on the bed, gloriously naked. She unpinned her hair, shook it wildly, and lay back, stroking Korra’s arms.

As always, the Avatar’s breath was briefly taken by the beauty of her lover, and she trailed kisses down Asami’s chest, overcome. As she let her tongue flick out to tease the stiffening pink of one nipple, she reflected on how incredibly lucky she was, after all her missteps and mistakes, to have this woman underneath her once more, rising and arching to her touch. To touch Asami was a gift, a gift she intended to carefully and thoroughly appreciate. Her lips swirled around Asami’s nipple, and she moaned into the soft flesh.

Beneath her, Asami gave an insistent little mewling noise, and pulled at Korra’s choppy brown locks, pushing her down lower, to her lover’s pleased chuckle. “Please,” the heiress whispered. “Don’t tease me, just let me feel how much you love me.”

Korra agreed with the idea, and showed her assent by brushing her lips against Asami’s glistening folds, stroking and gathering moisture. “I love you,” she whispered into Asami’s pussy, earning a soft sigh from above and the hands in her hair tightened. “I _love_ you,” she said again, and slid her tongue inside, luxuriously gathering all the wetness she could.

Asami moaned and the sound made Korra tingle all over, responding to her noises as if they were touches. She slipped her tongue in and out, fucking Asami with the silky length, and thrilling to the sounds she could pull from those red satin lips. The dark-haired girl seemed to definitely be enjoying her efforts, thrashing on the bed and calling her name. “Ahhhhh…K- _Korra_ …!”

Finally, she replaced her tongue with two fingers, coating them first in the silky emissions rolling down Asami’s pale thighs. Her lover moaned appreciatively, and she gave a sharp cry when she felt Korra’s lips wrap around her clit, working it slowly out from its swollen hood and drawing her tongue around it. She felt the orgasm building as the deliciously tight inner walls fluttered around her fingers, so she doubled her efforts, stroking her tongue along Asami’s swelling clit and exulting in the whimpers she was drawing from her lover. “Ohhhh!” Asami screamed, come rushing to meet Korra’s eager mouth as she writhed. “Ohhhh I love you, _Korraaa_ -!”

The Avatar closed her eyes as she lapped up every drop, almost feeling overwhelmed with emotion. Tears leaked from her lids and she sighed softly into Asami’s wetness, adding to the salt. “I love you,” she breathed again, and allowed herself to be pulled up, smiling as she felt Asami’s kisses on her tear-stained cheeks.

“Why are you crying?” Even in her post-orgasmic haze, Asami’s voice was admonishing. “Stop that. This isn’t the end.”

“I just…I love you so much.” Korra croaked. “After everything we’ve been through…after all that we are to each other, I just can’t lose you. I _can’t_.” She clutched Asami’s arms. “I can’t let her take you from me again.”

“Korra.” Asami’s voice was hardened enough to cut through her mild panic. “You didn’t ‘let’ anything happen to me in the first place. And you won’t again. We are going to fight Kuvira, _together_ , just as we always have, and we always will. From this day, until our last day.” Jade eyes greeted hers with love and determination, and she kissed her, lingeringly.

Asami pressed her back onto the bed, ignoring her murmured protests as a deft hand slipped effortlessly down Korra’s body, finding her wet and wanting. She gasped into the Avatar’s mouth, and slipped her fingers inside, wasting no time. Korra bucked to her touch, groaning, and pulled her down more firmly with a hand on her wrist, guiding her to where she needed it most. Asami’s fingers curled as they thrust, and it sent a rush of fluid to coat Korra’s thighs and her palm. “Aahhh _fffuck_ ,” she panted. “ _Asaaami_!”

The heiress only smiled, and curled her fingers again, and again, thrusting with such sweet intensity that it took Korra’s breath away. She felt her orgasm coming to a crescendo, building in her belly to spread into the pounding of her clit, and she thrashed, not knowing how to ask for what she needed. Luckily, Asami knew what would undo her, and her thumb, slick with wetness, rolled over Korra’s clit firmly, only once or twice, but that was enough. She screamed, and wept, and threw herself up at her lover, arching her body over and over as the waves passed through.

“I love you.” She whispered, one more time, and caressed the soft frame against her. She didn’t want to let her go, but she knew, eventually, that she must.

They dressed reluctantly, knowing they didn’t have much time. Korra let her eyes sweep lovingly over the body of the woman she loved, and she drew her close, nuzzling into her neck to smell her sweet crushed jasmine scent. “We have to go back upstairs.” She said finally, not wanting the words to leave her mouth, but knowing they had to come.

Asami nodded, and unlocked the door, stepping into the hall. “We’re almost done with the hummingbird suits, it shouldn’t be much longer.”

Korra smiled grimly. “All right, finish up as fast as you can, and we’ll work on our plan to slow her down for you.”

Asami’s eyes sparkled. “I know you’ll do everything you can.” She turned to go, but Korra caught her wrist, and kissed her again, deeply.

“If we make it out of this alive, you deserve a vacation.” She told her lover, stroking her hair one last time before they parted.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
Kuvira surveyed the damage, feet planted, arms behind her back, from the helm of the great colossus, her finest achievement. A jagged, ugly scar split her hairline in half, and one of her legs was still wrapped in bandages, and the healers she’d commandeered had recommended she stay off of it for two weeks, but she had ignored them. Foolish to even suggest. She had waited a long time for this day. On this day, she would officially end the entire concept of Republic City, and take its land and its people back into the Earth Kingdom, no, the Earth Empire. Her face formed a bitter grin. Today would also be a day to take her enemies in hand and watch them suffer, watch them bleed. To watch the Avatar’s face as she took from her everything she loved.

And oh, how she would enjoy that.

A helmsman behind her saluted smartly. “Commander.”

“Yes?” She didn’t turn: she wanted to see every inch of Republic City as it lay in ruins. It was her most enjoyable triumph so far today, but it would be far better when it was Asami Sato that lay in ruins, and the Avatar after that.

“We think we’ve located the source of the electromagnetic pulse that disabled our mecha platoons. It looks like it came from Future Industries tower.”

A cruel smile spread over her hardened features. “Asami, playing her little games again.” She looked across the wreckage to the gleaming, prominent spire of the tower. _You won’t be able to play for long, whore_ , she thought, victoriously. “That’s the place. Get us within firing range.”

________________________________________________________________________

  
The whirr of the hummingbird suits was a sudden hopeful buzz in Korra’s ear as she watched her tiny group of defenders attempting to slow the metal giant. _Be careful, Asami,_ she prayed, as she watched them narrowly dodge to avoid a cannon blast. _All Spirits, please watch out for her._

She turned her attention to the river. She could do something to distract the colossus’ attention. Gathering all of her water energy at the base of her chakra, she began to pull, shifting the natural tide of the river in her favor, and demanding the water magnetize to her instead, like a new pole. She felt the surge of the wave, and pushed, seeking to raise ever higher. It hit the thigh of the massive metal creature, and she shot energy outwards, then, asking the water crystals to become solid, to release their fluidity and tether. The water sheet formed into a solid wave of ice, stopping the machine in its tracks.

  
Gratefully, she saw that Varrick and Zhu Li were the first to make a pass, attempting to land on the thing’s back. A massive hand came up to swat at them, but they veered around again. This time, the hand just glanced the suit, and sent them into an unsteady spiral. The parachutes ejected and the occupants were clear, and now the only remaining suit was Asami and Hiroshi’s.

 _Come on, come on._ She thought, desperately, as she watched them land on the back of the leg joint and begin the arduous cutting process. She chanced a look at the ice; it was shaking under the efforts of the colossus to throw it off. Still, the whine of the saw went on and on, never seeming to stop. _Come on_ , she thought again, and threw another sheet of ice, this one weaker as there was less water to bend. Please Asami, just get free in time.

She barely had time to process her thought as a horrible shudder ran through the metal monster and a crash of ice shattered down just below the hummingbird suit. They were almost out of time. _No, no, no._ Korra bunched her muscles, preparing to jump as the arm began to swing down, knowing she wouldn’t make it, knowing she was about to watch Asami die-

And then a parachute sprung free from the suit just as the hand brutally crushed down, destroying the other occupant.

“Dad!” She hear Asami scream, and though the sound was heartrending, the sight of Asami dangling from the parachute, reaching for her father, was renewing, because she was alive. She spared one last glance at the love of her life, drifting down into safety with tears shining in her eyes, and turned her attention back to her foe. When this was over, when the thing was done, there would be time to grieve with her, but for now, she needed to keep all of them alive.

“Hiroshi’s plan worked.” She said grimly, addressing the Beifong sisters, Mako and Bolin, all of them, including herself, the strongest benders in the city. This was the team she had chosen for a reason, and one reason only: stop the machine. “There’s our opening.”

________________________________________________________________________________________

  
Kuvira paced inside the helm. A small part of her seethed for not managing to stop the Avatar from breaking in, but there was no time for that now. Her helmsman checked and rechecked the control panel, but nothing inside the arm would light up. “The weapon’s loading system has malfunctioned. We’re unable to fire.”

“That’s no malfunction,” she hissed, “I can feel someone metal bending inside the arm.” She gave a trial chop with all her might, but the arm only swung limply.

“I lost the connection!” Her frustrated yell made the helmsman wince. “The weapon’s _useless_ now!”

Irritated, she used the giant machine’s other arm to rip the useless weapon free, sending it spinning into the spirit wilds. The spirit cannon was supposed to be her endgame, the destruction weapon that would bring Republic City to its knees. And yet the Avatar was inside the machine even now, rendering it useless.

Almost as if on cue, she turned sharply to hear banging coming from the hatch below. No, not now, she had time to think, and then the hatch blew upward and Korra came tearing through it, knocking her helmsman out against the control panel with a double kick that sent blasts of fire towards both of them. Dodging, she almost ran into another fire blast as the Avatar aimed for her face. She reached out for the black metal track balls on the control panel, and bent them to her will, shooting them rapid-fire at Korra’s unprotected face, but the Avatar only redirected the metal, returning it to liquid form and sending it splashing back onto her.

Kuvira grunted with rage. “I’d’ve thought you’d be protecting your investment right about now. Leaving Miss Sato undefended?” She flung strips of metal at the Avatar, smiling in bitter satisfaction when one grazed her, opening a bloody cut.

“Asami can take care of herself. She took care of you pretty well.” The Avatar not only fired back with words, but with air bending blasts as well, knocking Kuvira head over heels. There was a grim determination in the younger woman’s face that she didn’t like. It made her wonder if it was a mistake to try to goad her with the Sato girl. Kuvira rushed at her, trying to unnerve some of that confidence, but Korra smoothly dodged, and forced her back again with a fire blast, knocking her injured leg into the panel. She cried out in both rage and pain.

“You’re wounded, Kuvira.” The Avatar stayed in the ready stance, but her hands dropped. “Why not end this now? You know you can’t possibly win.”

“I agree Avatar,” Kuvira snarled, throwing a metal track ball into her face. “Let’s end this now.”

Korra cried out in shock and alarm, and she went flying off the control panel. Kuvira charged forward, but the Avatar flipped to her feet and was up with a water blast before she could land a hit. She countered with the liquid metal, solidifying it to a whip that Korra only disintegrated again. They dueled, skills almost evenly matched, and projectiles shattered holes in her helm, destroying sections of the control panel. The Avatar was still unused to metal bending, and her skills weren’t as mastered as Kuvira’s. Kuvira was growing tired, though, and her leg lanced with pain, slowing her further. She grit her teeth; there was no giving in.

Just as she faced her foe again, there came a great groaning from inside the hull of the colossus, and she heard a thunderous crash. Purple light filled her vision, and she clung to the railing as they were thrown around the cockpit. The explosion rocked the core of the metal shell and it broke apart, sending them flying with the debris to the ground below.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
Asami ran through hails of shrapnel, dodging chunks of building as she did. “Dad! _Daddy_!” She screamed, heedless, feeling like a little girl again.

The hummingbird suit lay abandoned behind the wreckage trail of the metal monster. It was almost totally flattened, and even from feet away, she could see there was no hope, but she ran anyway, sobbing, as she came to the crushed, bleeding ruin of what had been her father’s last creation. The last thing she had worked on with him. The wreck was unrecognizable, and a small part of her was grateful, but most of her was wrenched with agony as she saw the hydraulic fluid mingling with dark blood on the ground. “ _Dad_ …” She wept, abandoning her fruitless search as she sank to her knees.

She was rocked forward as behind her, a massive boom shook the earth, sending shockwaves through the ruined city. She crawled under a sheet of metal, coughing, as dusty air swirled past, sending debris flailing through the air. There was a second, terrific rending noise, and she ducked her head out from her shelter just in time to see the colossus tumble to the earth, exploding into pieces.

There were old tears dried on her face, and shrapnel and dust burned in her lungs, but she wasn’t thinking about her safety, or the corpse of her father, in that moment. She needed to find Korra, because the mecha colossus had exploded, and she couldn’t think about what might have happened. _I can’t lose you_ , she thought, madly, _I can’t lose you both today._

She ran, dodging flying bits of sheet metal, knowing this was madness, that she could die, and that she should stay in the shelter she had created until the rubble settled, but the only thought that drove her was Korra, Korra, Korra. She skidded past a huge section of the torso, and rounded a corner to find the head of the beast, shattered glass and steel frames tossed like children’s toys.

Her heart leapt out of her throat as she saw Korra emerge from the rubble, dragging Kuvira with one arm slung over her shoulder. The metal bender’s face was glassy white and she didn’t look good, but it was Korra who she saw, Korra who filled her vision and made her put on speed. “Korra!” She yelled, her voice sounding raw from tears. “ _Korra_!”

“ _Asami_!” Korra had been laying an unconscious Kuvira down on a sheet of metal when she saw Asami. She straightened and ran to her, catching her in a hug that nearly knocked both of them over. “You’re okay,” the Avatar whispered into her hair. “I saw the parachute, I saw what happened….I’m so sorry..”

“It’s okay, you’re alive, you’re okay.” Asami tried to say but her words came out as a choked sob and she clung to Korra tighter. Over her shoulder, however, she saw Kuvira stirring, and her body stiffened. Korra turned to see what was the matter, and let go of Asami, stepping slightly in front of her.

“It’s over, Kuvira.” Korra told the metal bender as she slid upright, “You’re gonna call off your army and surrender to President Raiko. Then you and-“

“ _Look out_!” Asami saw the boulder before Korra, and grabbed her, rolling them to one side. They both grunted painfully as they slide down the hill of debris. Kuvira appeared at the top of the hill, and a sneer spread across her once-beautiful face.

“Well look at the two lovers,” She called. “Right where I want them!” A chunk of colossus the size of a small house descended upon their prone forms. They rolled, again, and again, as a spear of metal made from the colossus’ control tower came hurtling down. Korra struck back, whipping the spear around and sending it whirling back up the hill. It struck Kuvira in the shoulder, just glancing off her armor, but she cried out and fell back. Asami charged forward, rushing up the debris, and spun into a kick, knocking Kuvira further back.

Her glove crackled to life as Korra raised herself up the hill on a cyclone of wind. “ _Stay away from her!_ ” They yelled as one, their energies joining in a brilliant flash of aura that surrounded them both. Kuvira sent a wave of metal shrapnel towards Asami, but the powerful shock of red-gold-blue-silver spun outwards like a typhoon wave and knocked the metal fragments harmlessly aside.

The metal bender screamed in rage and sent her whip out, knocking Korra to one side, and withdrew, aiming for Asami. She waited, grimly, and when the whip came back for her, she grabbed it with her gloved hand and depressed the power, igniting the sparks. Kuvira screamed as the whip shook with electricity, but she managed to shake Asami off, slamming her to the ground as she stumbled back, turning to the spirit vines behind her.

“Stop!” Korra called after her, but it was too late, the metal bender had disappeared into the green vines. She helped pull Asami up, and then the two of them took off after Kuvira. Asami’s heart was pounding in her chest. The path ahead of them looked deserted, but Korra seemed to know where Kuvira had gone, and was making her way doggedly through the vines.

“You have to stop this madness, Kuvira,” Korra called. “You know this has to end, now.”

Asami heard the metal bender’s mocking voice echoing from up ahead. “If you really want to end it, then come and get me!”

Exchanging a glance, they took off as one, running toward the sound of the voice. They passed under a massive root, and Asami passed Korra, as she flashed into a small clearing, looking around for the source. A huge curtain of vines fell away, revealing the abandoned arm of the colossus, still loaded for bear with its deadly payload of spirit weapons. Asami inhaled harshly, staring down the barrel of the weapon as it was pointed right at her. She could see purple fire gathering at the other end and her heart seemed to stop, as time slowed to a molasses crawl.

“ _Now it ends_.” Kuvira snarled, and activated the weapon.

“No! Don’t!” Korra screamed and the deafening boom of the spirit cannon filled the air.

Asami was helpless, standing stock still as the rushing purple light threatened to disintegrate her, when Korra wrapped her in her arms and slammed them to the ground. She felt a roaring, rushing, sound-vacuum-emptying noise that went on and on and on, and she assumed she was dead, and this was the last moment of sound in her world.

But the rushing, bursting sound went on and on, and she became aware that she wasn’t dead, that there was some kind of rapidly expanding bubble that Korra had thrown up moments before the spirit cannon had hit, and this bubble was absorbing the weapon’s energy, sucking it up like a sponge. The bubble grew bigger and bigger, until with a ripping noise that nearly tore her eardrums open, it erupted upwards into the sky, tearing through the trees and knocking down the vines in a flattened circle for a mile around. The purple light twined with a yellow-green-gold, and then it gradually disappeared, becoming a fine purple mist. Still, the green-gold light expanded ever higher, reaching endlessly into the sky, and Asami became aware that they were standing in it, floating, Korra holding her hands, as they watched the new dizzying tower expand.

“What…what happened?” She asked Korra, who looked back at her for a second with blank white eyes, until the Avatar State relinquished its hold. They began to float back to the ground, and Asami felt her aura swell within her body, almost painful with its heat.

Korra blinked. “A new spirit portal, I think. We just made one.” She smiled and sent a little squeeze through Asami’s hand.

“We?” She asked, incredulously.

“Yeah. I think I just took all of that energy from our auras, and I used our blended energy to kinda…blend the auras of the spirit vines with the weapon, just like when we made love. And it made a new portal.”

They turned to the golden, shimmering light with awe, watching it rise. The light was warm, and it seemed familiar, somehow. With a tearful start, she realized it was the same color as her own aura when blended with Korra’s, and her body tingled with joy and blissful delight.

Behind them, however, came a strangled scream, and they turned to see Kuvira pinned to the ground by spirit vines, struggling to get free. The green roots looked like snakes as they writhed over the metal bender, powerfully wrapping her in their humming, purple light, so similar to the spirit cannon.

“The vines don’t like being used, “ Korra explained, not unkindly. “You used them, and it made them angry.”

“ _Get…them…off of me_!” Kuvira shrieked as a vine tried to force its way over her throat, almost choking her.

The Avatar considered. “I could. But you’d have to tell your forces to stand down, surrender to Raiko and agree to go to jail.” Kuvira opened her mouth to respond, but Korra stopped her with a finger in the air. “And if you went back on any of that, the vines would find you. Believe me, the vines always know.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.” Lin and Su Beifong had emerged from the wreckage, and Bolin supported an injured Mako.

“Mako, Bolin!” Asami broke from Korra’s side and ran to help support their friends, guiding Mako to sit down on a safe piece of wreckage as he thanked her fondly, accepting her hug with a slight wince.

“So we’re all in agreement then.” Korra snapped her fingers and the vines lifted Kuvira’s struggling form in the air, depositing her into the platinum manacles that Su and Lin each held, one in each hand.

“You’re going to jail for a _looong_ time.” Su promised, and Kuvira tried to snarl at her, but a vine rose up threateningly and she shrank back, terrified, and moaned as they curled around her, her face turning ashen grey as the vines gripped her tightly. Su and Lin led her away, ignoring her repeated cries for them to let her go.

“Mako, are you all right?” Korra made her way to their little group, standing behind Asami as she knelt over their shared former boyfriend. He smiled up at them, gritting his teeth against the pain, and Bolin pushed up a sheet of earth for him to rest on, encouraging him to lay back.

“I’m going to be fine,” the firebender promised. “I’m just glad the plan worked.”

“We did it!” Bolin whooped. “We stoped the mecha monster! Aww man I bet this would make a great Nuktuk mover! I gotta tell Varrick!” His thoughts of fame were stopped as Opal and the other airbenders landed in the flattened sphere of vines, and he ran to her, arms waving.

Tenzin approached. “We’ll get Mako to a hospital,” he promised, and then considered. “…if there’s one still standing. You did well, Korra. I never thought I’d see a new spirit portal in my lifetime.” He smiled, and there were tears gleaming in his eyes. He drew Korra and Asami into a hug, and together they stared up at the portal, as the golden-green light shone in the sky.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
Varrick’s wedding had been a rather rousing success, all things considered. The dancing platypus bears had been, perhaps, a bit much, but the light dusting of waterbender-created snow was a nice touch. Korra smiled and brushed a small accumulation off of Asami’s bare shoulder as they whirled beneath the golden string lights, bodies pressed close. Her love was looking more beautiful than she could’ve hoped, resplendent in her loose red and orange silk, and though her smile was sad, her arms twined around Korra’s neck as tightly as they had on that night in Zaofu.

“Is it hard?” Korra asked, guiding her off the dance floor. She could sense Asami needed some space from the crowds. “Being here, without your father?”

“Yes,” Asami confessed softly, as they made their way to a secluded part of the gazebo steps. “But it would’ve been worse to lose you both. He died so that we could live, and I will always remember that.” A small sob escaped her, and Korra wrapped her closely, pulling her into a strong hug.

“Spirits, Asami. I'm so sorry that that happened. But he really did save us all. We wouldn’t have been able to get into the colossus without him.” She stroked Asami’s hair, feeling anguished that she couldn't do more to help her love.

“I’m just glad we’re both alive.” Asami sniffed and laughed a little, the sound losing its bitterness as she looked into Korra’s eyes. “After all that’s happened, maybe we both deserve that vacation you were talking about.”

Korra grinned. “I know just the place.”

And, as it turns out, she did.

They approached the spirit world portal, hand in hand, staring up at the towering thing their love had created. Korra squeezed Asami’s fingers, prompting green eyes to sear into hers, and they stepped into the light together. Golden warmth filled the air, and the fullness pushed both of their auras out and wrapping together, floating around their entwined bodies.

“I love you,” she told Asami, as they stepped into the spirit world, and their lips touched.

“I love you.” Asami whispered back, into her mouth, as they folded into one another and the world around them became brilliant with color.

 


End file.
